KUALA LUMPUR (July 8): The FBM KLCI fell 6.17 points or 0.4% as investors sold oil palm plantation shares on crude palm oil price drop as they waited for the US job report later today.

At 5pm, the KLCI closed at 1,644.54 points on losses in plantation stocks like PPB Group Bhd and Sime Darby Bhd. PPB fell 28 sen to RM16.22 to become Bursa Malaysia's third-largest decliner.

The US employment data is closely watched as the information offers clues on the direction of US interest rates.

Reuters reported that Malaysian palm oil futures fell 5.5% on Friday to their lowest level in nine months, following losses in rival soyoil and on sluggish export demand.

Benchmark palm oil futures for September delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange were down 3.7% at RM2,268 (US$561.80) per tonne as of 0811 GMT, after falling as much as 5.6% earlier in the day to RM2,223, the lowest level since Oct 9, 2015.

Bloomberg reported that the emerging markets' share rally, fueled by speculation that central banks will boost stimulus after the UK's European Union exit decision, is fading as focus shifts to a US payrolls report on Friday and a slew of Chinese economic data due next week.

In Malaysia today, JF Apex Securities Bhd senior analyst Lee Cherng Wee told theedgemarkets.com that investors were adopting a "wait and see" approach ahead of the release of the US jobs data.

"Besides that, (crude) oil prices have also dropped, bringing down investor sentiment further," he said.

The KLCI fell with Asian shares. Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 1.1% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.69%.

Bursa Malaysia saw 1.23 billion shares valued at RM1.45 billion traded. There were 305 gainers and 387 decliners.

Top gainer was Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd while leading decliners included Petronas Gas Bhd, PPB Group Bhd and UMW Holdings Bhd. The most-active stock was Borneo Oil Bhd.