KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 27): The FBM KLCI fell 4.78 points or 0.3%, possibly on Malaysia's Budget 2017 uncertainties as investors speculated on an early general election here.

Budget 2017, which will be announced this Oct 21, is widely seen as an election budget, on speculation the nation will have an earlier general election, ahead of the August 2018 deadline.

Today, analysts said investors wanted to know how Budget 2017 would improve the nation's economy. At 5 p.m., the KLCI closed at 1,664.72 points.

“It is crunch time for Malaysia, due to the worries arising from the upcoming Budget 2017 and general election. People are anxious to know what initiatives the Government plan to undertake to improve the economy," Public Investment Bank research head Ching Weng Jin told theedgemarkets.com over telephone.

“While it is tough to foresee the performance of the Malaysian stock market in the long run, we will definitely see prices constantly fluctuating in the short- and mid-term,” he said.

Across Bursa Malaysia, there were 338 gainers against 426 decliners. A total of 1.49 billion shares, valued at RM1.85 billion, were traded.
 
Top gainer was British American Tobbaco (M) Bhd, while major decliners included UMW Holdings Bhd and Tek Seng Holdings Bhd. The most active stock was Sanichi Technology Bhd.

Investors closely watched Malaysian share trades against the U.S. presidential debate today.

Reuters reported Asian shares recovered today, while the Mexican peso rocketed as investors awarded the first U.S. presidential debate to Democrat Hillary Clinton. over Republican Donald Trump.