Malaysian Stock Market Closes Lower

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed lower today weighed down by external factors as well as weak local sentiment due to the holiday-shortened trading week. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 8.40 points to close at 1,652.99 points against yesterday's close of 1,661.39 points. The index opened 1.3 points lower at 1,660.09 and moved between 1,650.90 points and 1,663.32 points throughout the day. A trader said the overseas sentiment was dampened by the global oil glut which was set to worsen and continue until next year. "This has also affected the Asian equities markets, which saw Singapore's Strait Times down 0.37 per cent and Japan's Nikkei 225 was lower by 1.26 per cent," he said. The global crude oil benchmark, Brent, fell 2.73 per cent to US$45.85 per barrel. On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index fell 31.52 points to 11,674.44, FBMT100 Index lost 32.93 points to 11,379.44 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 29.46 points lower at 12,327.23. The FBM 70 rose 40.45 points to 13,674.44 and the FBM Ace added 32.09 points to 5,218.88. Sector-wise, the Finance Index fell 30.90 points to 14,216.88, Plantation Index was down 19.35 points to 7,846.61, Plantation Index slipped 19.35 points to 7,846.61 and the Industrial Index declined 9.38 points to 3,099.85. Gainers outpaced losers by 397 to 369 while 385 counters were unchanged, 529 untraded and 19 others suspended. Volume fell to 1.33 billion units worth RM2.32 billion from Wednesday's 1.40 billion units worth RM1.82 billion. --BERNAMA