KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia extended its downtrend to end marginally lower yesterday in the absence of buying interest amid a mixed performance in the regional markets.

       At 5pm, the FBM KLCI fell 3.75 points to 1,456.92 from Friday’s closing of 1,460.67.

       The index opened 0.41 of-a-point point easier at 1,460.26 – its intraday high – and moved to an intraday low of 1,454.12 in the morning session.

       The market breadth was negative with decliners outpacing gainers at 499 versus 395, while 457 counters were unchanged, 1,023 untraded and nine others suspended.

       Turnover narrowed to 3.23 billion units valued at RM1.70bil from 3.27 billion units valued at RM1.89bil on Friday.

       Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said regional markets trended mixed as investors are cautious ahead of the minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s late-October meeting, due today.

       On the domestic front, he said investors remain cautious to make significant moves, given the absence of compelling buying incentives surrounding the current market sentiment, which is heightened by global market risks and volatility.

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       “Nevertheless, bargain hunting may come into play due to the benchmark index’s inexpensive valuations,” he told Bernama.

       Among the heavyweight counters, Malayan Banking Bhd eased one sen to RM9.11, Public Bank Bhd and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd lost two sen to RM4.21 and RM7.20 respectively, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd fell three sen to RM5.77, while Tenaga Nasional Bhd rose one sen to RM9.97.

       Of the actives, Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd gave up half-a-sen to three sen, LeForm Bhd inched up half-a-sen to 29 sen, Top Glove Corp Bhd added 1.5 sen to 80 sen, Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd gained one sen to 65 sen and Widad Group Bhd was unchanged at 46 sen.