Malaysian Stock Market Ends Lower

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian stock market (Bursa Malaysia) rebounded, in late trading session, to end higher Wednesday, tracking the performance of its regional peers, dealers said. At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.91 points to finish at 1,739.05 compared with Tuesday's close of 1,736.14. After opening 0.89 of-a-point better at 1,737.03 in the morning, the index moved between 1,733.67 and 1,740.51 throughout the day. Market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers by 467 to 362, with 403 counters unchanged, 620 untraded and 18 others suspended. Volume fell to 2.46 billion worth RM1.89 billion from 2.48 billion units worth RM2.12 billion on Tuesday. A dealer said Asian bourses were mostly higher, taking the cue from the firmer overnight Wall Street and the Dow Jones Industrial Average which posted its biggest gain in more than a month, solid earnings reports from heavyweights, as well as, promises of tax reform from the US administration. On the local front, Bursa Malaysia staged a last minute technical rebound with mid-to-large cap stocks consolidating sideways ahead of the Budget 2018 details. Regionally, Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.45 per cent to 21,707.62, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.53 per cent to 28,302.86, South Korea's Kospi edged up 0.08 per cent to 2,492.50 and the Singapore Straits Times Index increased 0.16 per cent to 3,340.14. Of heavyweights, Maybank eased one sen to RM9.24 while Sime Darby and Petronas Chemicals slid three sen each to RM9.08 and RM7.45, respectively. TNB added four sen to RM14.34 and Public Bank gained two sen RM20.46. Among active counters, D.B.E. Gurney Resources edged up half-a-sen each to 3.5 sen, MNC Wireless and PUC added one sen each to 10 sen and 17.5 sen, respectively, UMW Oil & Gas warrant gained 14.5 sen to 15 sen while Trive Property fell two sen to 16 sen -- BERNAMA