At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 15.68 points or 1.01% easier at 1,532.63 from Tuesday’s close of 1,548.31.

The market bellwether opened 1.01 points lower at 1,547.30 and fluctuated between 1,531.66 and 1,551.95 throughout the session.

On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 660 to 309, while 426 counters were unchanged, 821 untraded and 61 others suspended.

Turnover decreased to 4.65 billion units valued at RM2.67 billion from 4.79 billion units valued at RM2.63 billion yesterday.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said the FBM KLCI closed at the lowest point in nearly eight months since investor sentiment remained dampened due to the number of daily Covid-19 cases, which remains high at 6,276 cases on June 30.

He said under the FBM KLCI index, the main laggards were Digi and Sime Darby Plantation, both of which dropped by more than 3.0%.

“The slump in these two stocks caused the Bursa Malaysia Telecommunication Index and the Bursa Malaysia Plantation index to both decline by 1.1% during the day, the largest drop among the sector indices,” he told Bernama.

He said overseas, other Asian markets recorded gains, taking the cue from the robust consumer confidence in the US, which lifted Wall Street performance overnight.

On the home front, among heavyweights, only RHB Bank was in the positive territory, gaining three sen to RM5.40.

IHH lost 16 sen to RM5.47, Digi was 15 sen weaker at RM4.13, while Top Glove and Sime Darby Plantation eased 13 sen each to RM4.17 and RM3.98 respectively.

Public Bank dropped four sen to RM4.11, Hartalega declined 14 sen to RM7.35, Petronas Gas went down 20 sen to RM15.50, Petronas Dagangan dipped 38 sen to RM18.60, and PChem was flat at RM8.06.

Of the actives, Serba Dinamik was up one sen to 33 sen, Sedania surged 22.5 sen to 72.5 sen, Kumpulan Jetson rose 5.5 sen to 34.5 sen, and Saudee added two sen to 20.5 sen.