KUALA LUMPUR: Last minute selling in selected blue chips caused the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI to close lower.

The key index had hovered in positive territory earlier. At 5pm, the 30-stock index was down 1.30 points to 1,747.00. The benchmark index opened 2.36 higher at 1,750.66 this morning. The market traded within a range of 6.76 points between an intra-day high of 1753.76 and a low of 1747.00 during the session.

Trading volume stood at 4.778 billion shares worth RM3.665bil. Market breadth was positive with 596 gainers as compared to 378 losers while 324 counters traded unchanged on Bursa Malaysia.

On Bursa Malaysia, Panasonic Manufacturing was the top gainer, up 86 sen to RM33.86, Dutch Lady rose 48 sen to RM58.48 while Rev Asia added 29.5 sen to RM1.11.

Rev Asia hits limit-up in early trade following speculation that the company would gain from the iconic Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) that was launched yesterday.

Starbiz reported that the company was not directly involved in the DFTZ but the link was through its parent company Catcha Group, which owns 66% of Rev Asia.

Catcha Group, which describes itself as Asia’s leading Internet group, has been made the master developer of the Kuala Lumpur Internet City (KLIC).

Additionally, selected tech-based related penny stocks counters also saw active trading after Alibaba announced its first overseas e-commerce hub in Malaysia.

Efficient E-Solutions was the most heavily traded counter closing 21 sen higher at 50 sen with 208 million shares done. Dataprep rose 3 sen to 66 sen and Green Packet was 6.5 sen better at 36 sen.

The top losers included British American Tobacco, which fell 50 sen to RM47.20 while Petronas Gas declined 26 sen to RM19.72.

Among the banks, Maybank rose 6 sen to RM9, Public Bank and CIMB was unchanged at RM19.96 and RM5.60 respectively. Hong Leong Bank fell 18 sen to RM13.56.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that European shares hit a two-week low on Wednesday, extending losses from the previous session, weighed down by weaker banks and a plunge in security services firm Gemalto following a profit warning.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended down 0.4%, little affected by an attack in London near the British parliament which left several people injured.

France’s CAC 40 fell 0.19% to 4,985.23, UK’s FTSE 100 fell 0.14% to 7,314.11 while Germany’s DAX 30 index rose 0.68% at 11,916.75.

Elsewhere in the region, Asian shares were higher with Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average added 0.23%, the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.1%, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.2% and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was up 0.03%.

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