KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI bucked the regional trend to end lower as cautious sentiment weighed on buying patterns.

       At 5pm, the 30-stock index was down 11.84 points, or 0.74% to 1,596.44 after moving between an intraday high of 1,620.44 and a low of 1,593.57.

       In the broader market, decliners outnumbered gainers 566 to 404 while 424 counters were unchanged. Turnover stood at 3.21 billion shares worth RM3.24bil.

       In today’s session, 15 of the KLCI-component stocks closed lower while 11 counters chalked up gains.

       Laggards in the KLCI component stocks included Petronas Dagangan, which tumbled RM1.12 to RM20.40, CIMB shed 42 sen to RM5.29 and Petronas Gas lost 20 sen to RM17.20.

       Nestle added RM1.50 to RM135.50, Hong Leong Financial Group gained 38 sen to RM19.70, Hong Leong Bank rose 34 sen to RM20.40 and Hartalega advanced 24 sen to RM4.86.

       On the broader market, Batu Kawan added RM1.02 to RM26.46, SAM climbed 36 sen to RM21.90 and Dutch Lady rose 32 sen to RM32.50.

       MPI lost 56 sen to RM35.22, Ta Ann fell 44 sen to RM5.05, Imaspro eased 33 sen to RM2.06 and Hap Seng declined 28 sen to RM7.30.

       Meanwhile, Brent crude oil added US$3.11, or 3.17%, to US$101.08 a barrel while US crude oil futures climbed US$2.62, or 2.74%, to US$98.34 per barrel.

       On the external front, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.2% to 26,844.72 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.2% to 22,761.71.

       China’s CSI300 index rose 0.8% to 4,619.69, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.8% to 3,488.83.