KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 15): The FBM KLCI finished in negative territory today due to lack of any significant progress in the ongoing US-China trade talks, as well as profit taking by investors.

The benchmark index closed 1.36 points or 0.09% lower at 1566.23.

On the broader market, there were 410 decliners against 391 advancers. A total of 2.62 billion shares valued at RM1.73 billion exchanged hands.

Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd analyst Loui Low said today’s trading was mostly sideways, with bouts of profit taking.

“Trading sentiment was also dampened due to China putting a pause on the trade deal, despite the mildly expansionary budget presented (by the Malaysian government) earlier. There is also some rotational play going on,” he told theedgemarkets.com when contacted.

Nevertheless, Loui also noted that there was still some spillover effect from Budget 2020, since beneficiary stocks such as those involved in technology and green initiatives remained positive.

Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, Reuters said most stock markets traded in a flat-to-lower range, as hopes of a Sino-U.S. trade deal subsided after Beijing indicated further talks were needed, while figures from China underlined the damage felt due to trade pressures.

It said traders cautioned that sentiment is fragile as the U.S.-China trade war remains a risk to global growth.

"Meanwhile, denting market sentiment further was data which showed that factory gate prices in China, the biggest trading partner of Southeast Asia, contracted for the third straight month in September, weighed by slowing demand and a long drawn-out trade war with the United States," Reuters said.