KUALA LUMPUR: Shares on Bursa Malaysia settled lower on Wednesday as sellers dominated the market and profit-taking kept a lid on gains.

       At 5pm, the FBM KLCI declined 3.45 points, or 0.23% to 1,516.52. The index had earlier risen to a high of 1,521.57.

       Market breadth turned negative as losers outnumbered the gainers on a ratio of 580-to-400 stocks. Traded volumes stood at 5.46 billion valued at RM3.43bil.

       Dealers said the market failed to hold onto its earlier gains as investors' sentiment stayed cautious amid the high number of daily Covid-19 cases.

       Malaysia recorded 11,985 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the cumulative total to 951,884.

       Among the 30 FBM KLCI constituents, Kuala Lumpur Kepong fell 24 sen to RM19.48, Petronas Dagangan lost 20 sen to RM18.54, PPB shed 14 sen to RM18.26 and MR DIY gave up 14 sen to RM3.34.

       CIMB fell eight sen to RM4.48, RHB Bank declined five sen to RM5.20, Public Bank eased three sen to RM4.01 and Maybank lost two sen to RM8.01.

       Meanwhile, glove stocks closed higher as infection rates stayed high. Hartalega jumped 31 sen to RM7.89 and Top Glove rose 23 sen to RM4.16.

       Supermax rose 30 sen to RM3.69, Adventa added 27 sen to RM2.07, Careplus gained 20 sen to RM2.17 and Kossan advanced 18 sen to RM3.49.

       MPI, BLD Plantation, Widetech and F&N are among the top losers on the broader market.

       On the external front, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.58%, or 159.84 points higher at 27,548.00.

       Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended down 34.67 points or 0.13% at 27,224.58.

       South Korea’s Kospi index closed down 16.79 points, or 0.52%, at 3,215.91.

       China’s CSI300 index rose 0.7% to 5,144.04 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.7% to 3,562.66 points.