KUALA LUMPUR (June 28): The FBM KLCI erased earlier gains today to close down 0.4 points or 0.02% amid thin trading activity as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the first half window dressing activities.

Malaysian stocks extended their loss for the fourth consecutive day to end the day at 1,665.68 points, after climbing to an intraday high of 1,670.85. Trading volume fell to 1.56 billion shares worth RM1.66 billion compared with yesterday’s 2.01 billion shares worth RM1.99 billion.

"The market was a bit quiet. There was an absence of foreign sellers, but the bad news was the volume among bargain hunters was weak," TA Securities Research analyst Stephen Soo told theedgemarkets.com.

"One possible explanation could be that investors are saving their bullets for the upcoming window dressing for the first half of the year," he added.

Decliners led gainers by 419 counters against 365, while 650 counters were unchanged.

British American Tobacco (M) Bhd led gainers, followed by United Plantations Bhd and Padini Holdings Bhd. Lagging movers were Carlsberg Brewery (M) Bhd, Panasonic Manufacturing (M) Bhd and Tenaga Nasional Bhd.

Regionally, Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.01%, South Korea's Kospi fell 1.19% while Hong Kong's HSI rose 0.5%.

Reuters reported that Asian stocks slumped to nine-month lows on Thursday after Wall Street retreated overnight on renewed uncertainty regarding the US stance on Chinese investments in American technology companies.

In other markets, the ringgit extended its retreat against the US dollar. At the time of writing, the local currency was trading at 4.0445 against the greenback.