KUALA LUMPUR (March 23): The FBM KLCI fell 0.2 point, tracking crude oil and Asian equity losses as Brussels' bomb attacks hit sentiment.

At 5pm, the KLCI closed at 1,724.55 points. The index had earlier reached an intraday low of 1,716.43.

Across Asian share markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.28% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.25%.

Reuters reported that Asian shares slipped in subdued trading on Wednesday as investors pulled back on positions ahead of the long Easter weekend, opting for caution following the suspected Islamic State suicide bomb attacks in Brussels.

Oil prices fell on Wednesday after figures from an industry group showed US crude stockpiles rose more than expected last week, reinforcing concerns that the global supply glut continues unabated. The front-month contract in US crude futures was down 47 US cents at US$40.98 a barrel by 0753 GMT.

In Malaysia, Interpacific Securities research head Pong Teng Siew told theedgemarkets.com the research firm expected foreign fund flow into the Malaysian market to slow.

Pong said this might affect the KLCI's performance in the next few days.

"Oil prices and ringgit will continue to affect the FBM KLCI," he said.

According to him, the strengthening of the ringgit against the US dollar would prompt the market to switch from medium and small cap stocks to blue chips.

The ringgit strengthened to 3.9930 against the US dollar at about 5pm today. The range today was between 3.9615 and 4.0133, according to Bloomberg data.

Bursa Malaysia saw 1.93 billion shares valued at RM2.44 billion traded. There were 361 gainers and 476 decliners.

Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd and Genting Bhd were the top two gainers.

Apex Healthcare Bhd was the top decliner.

The most-active stocks included AirAsia Bhd and AirAsia X Bhd.