SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia closed lower yesterday, dragged down by selling in selected blue chips and heavyweights, a dealer said.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 4.33 points lower at 1,868.64, after fluctuating between 1,867.34 and 1,876.83 throughout the day.

Inter-Pacific Research Sdn Bhd Head Pong Teng Siew said gains in small-capitalised stocks helped limit the losses.

He said the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17 crash did not cause any serious impact on the market as investors had already factored this in.

The Finance Index eased 8.36 points to 17,443.48, the Plantation Index slipped 6.94 points to 9,005.89 and the Industrial Index fell 26.81 points to 3,212.22.

The FBM Emas Index lost 20.84 points to 13,041.9, the FBMT100 Index declined 27.25 points to 12,626.11 but the FBM ACE Index rose 61.97 points to 6,913.8.

Losers led gainers 451 to 400, with 312 counters unchanged, 465 untraded and 22 others suspended.

Among the actives, Sona added two sen to 55.5 sen, Sumatec shed half-a-sen to 42 sen, while MAS was unchanged at 20 sen.

Of the heavyweights, Public Bank rose 10 sen to RM20.12 and Axiata and Sime Darby perked up two sen each to RM12.30 and RM9.65, respectively.

Meanwhile, FBM KLCI futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives tumbled to its lowest in more than six weeks before reversing a portion of earlier losses.

Spot month July 2014 eased 7.0 points to 1,866, August 2014 declined 8.5 points to 1,865, September 2014 trimmed eight points to 1,862 and December 2014 shed six points to 1,863.

Turnover fell to 6,890 lots from 8,438 on Friday, while open interest decreased to 37,750 contracts from 38,125 before. Bernama