KUALA LUMPUR (April 10): The FBM KLCI fell as profit taking continued ahead of the weekend and as investors assessed the slower growth in Malaysia's industrial output

Malaysia's March palm oil output and inventory growth, which do not bode well for the commodity's prices, and a weaker ringgit might have also dented investment sentiment.

At 5pm, the KLCI was down 5.08 points or 0.27% at 1,844.31 points. The KLCI had extended losses after falling 0.92 point or 0.05% yesterday.

"There is no near term catalyst that could surprise market sentiment. Buying interest should arise if the key index touched a low of 1,835 points or 1,837 points," AllianceDBS Research Sdn Bhd technical analyst Teoh Chang Yeow told theedgemarkets.com today.

Today, the Statistics Department said Malaysia's industrial production index (IPI) rose 5.2% year-on-year (y-o-y) in February. This growth rate had slowed from the 7% expansion seen in January.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) said crude palm oil (CPO) production for March increased 33.27% month-on-month to 1.49 million tonnes from 1.12 million tonnes in February this year

MPOB said March palm oil inventory, comprising CPO and processed palm oil, rose 7.02% to 1.87 million tonnes against 1.74 million tonnes. Total palm oil exports rose 21.52% to 1.18 million tonnes in March from 972,646 tonnes in February.

Across Bursa Malaysia, gainers outpaced decliners by 422 to 403, while 330 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 1.855 billion shares valued at RM1.802 billion.

Top decliners included Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd and APM Automotive Holdings Bhd. Top gainers included PPB Group Bhd and Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd.

Actively-traded stocks included Frontken Corp Bhd and Kanger International Bhd.

In currency markets, ringgit depreciated against the US dollar to 3.6665 at 4.47pm. The ringgit also depreciated against Singapore dollar at 2.6908.

Across the region, Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 0.15% while South Korea's Kospi closed 1.4% higher.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.22%.

Reuters reported that Asian shares advanced near recent highs on Friday and were on track for weekly gains, with some investors betting the lustre would rub off on European stock markets.

The report also said news that Greece had made a 450 million euro loan payment to the International Monetary Fund, securing extra emergency lending for its banks and helped improve global risk sentiment, despite scepticism over how far Athens' economic reforms would go.