KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed in red today, in line with key regional indices as investors took profits amid the global sell-off.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shaved off 8.54 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 1,621.14 from Tuesday's close of 1,629.68.

The key index opened 1.63 points higher at 1,631.31, to mark its intraday high and hit a low of 1,619.71 before the midday session.

On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 773 to 341, with 487 counters unchanged, 870 untraded, and six others suspended.

Turnover slid to 4.39 billion units worth RM2.80 billion from Tuesday's 5.11 billion units worth RM3.59 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd Thong Pak Leng said key regional indices were also in negative territory after a lackluster performance on Wall Street overnight due to weak earnings from US tech giants Tesla and Alphabet. 

As for the local bourse, Thong said the firm cautiously holds an optimistic outlook for the local market amidst escalating volatility in global equities.

"We believe investor sentiment on the local bourse will remain steady given the strong support from foreign buying, while the sustainable high daily trading volume suggests that interest in Malaysian equities remains strong. 

"As such, we maintain our weekly FBM KLCI target between 1,610-1,640 for the rest of the week," he told the Business Times. 

Among the actives, Ekovest Bhd fell one sen to 49 sen from 50 sen, SC Estate Builder Bhd increased ten sen to 20 sen while OCR Group Bhd fell two sen to 10 sen.

https://www.nst.com.my/business/corporate/2024/07/1081055/bursa-malaysia-ends-lower-profit-taking-amid-global-sell-