KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips closed broadly lower on Wednesday, weighed down by losses in Petronas-linked stocks and some banks but the broader market was slightly firmer while the ringgit jumped against the pound sterling.

At 5pm, the FBM KLCI was down 4.01 points or 0.23% to 1,750.41. Turnover was 3.40 billion shares valued at RM2.63bil. There were 522 gainers, 402 losers and 352 counters unchanged.

European shares rose on Wednesday, following Wall Street's late surge, while sterling was the biggest loser on major currency markets ahead of the formal triggering of Britain's exit process from the European Union later in the day, Reuters reported.

Key Asian markets were mixed, with China and Taiwan in the red while others managed to eke out some gains.

The pound sterling slumped against the key currencies including the Ringgit. The local unit rose 1.09% against the pound to 5.5004 from the previous close of 5.5611. 

The ringgit also advanced against the Euro, up 0.59% to 4.7681 from 4.7964. However, it slipped against the US dollar to 4.4190 from 4.4135 and weakened against the Singapore dollar to 3.1681 from 3.1676.

BAT fell the most among the stocks on Bursa, skidding RM2.46 to RM45.44 with 636,700 shares done on concerns the government could raise the duties on cigarettes.

Oil prices extended gains on Wednesday despite industry data showing an increase in US crude inventories, lifted by supply disruptions in Libya and views that an OPEC-led output reduction is likely to be extended, Reuters reported. US light crude rose 35 cents to US$48.72 and Brent gained 43 cents to US$51.76.

Despite the rebound, Petronas Dagangan fell 94 sen to RM23.90 and Petronas Gas 16 sen lower ar RM19.80 but Petronas Chemical gained two sen to RM7.62.

Among the finance and banks stocks, HLFG fell 34 sen to RM16.16, RHB Bank five sen lower at RM5.25, Maybank was down three sen to RM8.97, Public Bank, Hong Leong Bank and CIMB rose two sen each to RM19.94, RM13.68 and RM5.58 respectively. 

Semiconductor related stocks MPI and Globetronics fell on profit taking. MPI lost 18 sen to RM11.80 and Globetronics 13 sen lower at RM5.05. However, burn-in tester KESM added two sen to RM11.78.

As for telcos, Axiata climbed eight sen to RM5.13 and added 1.17 points to the KLCI, Maxis and Telekom were flat at RM6.44 and RM6.41 while Digi shed one sen to RM5.16.

Tenaga was flat at RM13.74, Genting Bhd fell eight sen to RM9.67 and Genting Malaysia was down five sen to RM5.70. MAHB added 16 sen to RM7.16.

Konsortium Transnasional, which had been under the investors' radar screen, saw active trade, adding 3.5 sen to 19.5 sen with 59.51 million shares. Interest in the bus transportation company could be linked to Perak Transit which had received positive feedback from analysts.

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