The key index remained in negative territory and ended the day slightly lower due to profit-taking after yesterday’s significant gains.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Bursa Malaysia alongside key regional markets were in negative territory after an unexpected rise in US inflation yesterday, where the consumer price index (CPI) increased by 3.1% on an annual basis, exceeding economists’ forecast of 2.9%.

“The stronger data diminishes the likelihood of a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve in the near term,” he told Bernama.

On the local front, the benchmark index is well supported above 1,520 and is strongly holding the crucial breakout line at 1,526 to 1,527.

“We hope the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) can sustain this level for an extended period as a solid foundation for further advancement.

“As such, we are maintaining our weekly FBM KLCI target of between 1,520 and 1,540,” he added.

At 5pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI lost 2.04 points to 1529.33 from yesterday’s close of 1,531.37.

The FBM KLCI opened 3.58 points easier at 1,527.79 and moved between 1,521.79 and 1,530.95 throughout the day.

Decliners led gainers 503 to 387 on the broader market, while 509 counters were unchanged, 901 untraded, and 10 others suspended.

Turnover rose to 2.81 billion units valued at RM1.93 billion from yesterday’s 2.11 billion units valued at RM2.04 billion.

Among the gainers in the heavyweights, Petronas Dagangan added 54 sen to RM22.26, CIMB climbed up three sen to RM6.37, MISC was seven sen better at RM7.45 and AMMB improved five sen to RM4.34.

Meanwhile, Maybank was four sen easier at RM9.40, Public Bank was flat at RM4.40 and Tenaga Nasional was two sen easier at RM11.06.

As for the actives, RGB International and MMAG added 1.5 sen each at 33 sen and 11.5 sen, Master Tec rose 2.5 sen at 41.5 sen while Widad lost 0.5 sen at 12.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dropped 15.15 points to 11,358.86, the FBMT 100 Index fell 14.51 points to 11,015.28, the FBM 70 Index shaved 19.38 points to 15,314.93, the FBM Emas Shariah Index dipped 29.24 points to 11,383.4, but the FBM ACE Index gained 9.07 points to 4,842.59.

Sector-wise, the property index slipped by 5.63 points to 921.93, the plantation index fell 41.18 points to 7,235.45 and the energy index went down 0.69 of-a-point to 890.71.

The financial services index improved 7.11 points to 17,155.37 and the industrial products and services index shed 0.67 of-a-point to 174.09.

The Main Market volume slipped to 1.51 billion units worth RM1.69 billion from yesterday’s 1.57 billion units worth RM1.93 billion.

Warrants turnover narrowed to 794.82 million units worth RM109.98 million from 205.28 million units worth RM27.91 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume improved to 485.38 million shares valued at RM132.17 million from 332.83 million shares valued at RM85.91 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 229.52 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (475.63 million); construction (123.48 million); technology (119.3 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (60.18 million); property (213.54 million); plantation (24.2 million); REITs (15.61 million), closed/fund (1,000); energy (81.12 million); healthcare (37.89 million); telecommunications and media (41.81 million); transportation and logistics (19.87 million); and utilities (66.1 million).