KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 22): Bursa Malaysia ended lower on Wednesday (Feb 22) amid lacklustre trading, in line with the downbeat performance in regional markets. 

At 5pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI had fallen 10.01 points or 0.68% to end at 1,464.0, compared with Tuesday's close at 1,474.01.

The key index opened 1.52 points easier at 1,472.49, and moved between 1,462.60 and 1,473.23 throughout the trading day. 

On the broader market, decliners outpaced advancers 654 to 273, while 378 counters were unchanged, 918 untraded, and 11 others suspended.

Turnover increased to 3.51 billion units worth RM2.07 billion, from Tuesday's 3.38 billion units worth RM1.85 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the weak regional sentiment followed negative cues from the Wall Street performance overnight, as higher interest rates continued to pressure market sentiment, and the latest batch of retail earnings raised concerns about the state of US consumers.

Geopolitical concerns also weighed on market sentiment, after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is suspending Russia's participation in a nuclear arms treaty with the US, he added.

"On the domestic front, we believe today's (Wednesday) selldown offers an opportunity to bargain-hunt for stocks at lower levels. Although sentiments may be cautious, we reckon the KLCI will stage a rebound, and expect it to hover at the 1,465-1,480 range for the remainder of the week," Thong told Bernama. 

Regionally, Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 0.21% to 3,300.04, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 0.51% to 20,423.84, Japan's Nikkei 225 dipped 1.34% to 27,104.32, and China's SSE Composite Index eased 0.47% to 3,291.15.

Back home, Bursa heavyweights CIMB Group Holdings Bhd rose three sen to RM5.47 a share, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) shed four sen to RM8.66, Public Bank Bhd declined two sen to RM4.13, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd shed 16 sen to RM8.20, and Tenaga Nasional Bhd lost 15 sen to RM9.65. 

As for active stocks, SMRT Holdings Bhd advanced 2.5 sen to 32.5 sen, Sapura Energy Bhd was flat at 4.5 sen, MyEG Services Bhd eased one sen to 65 sen, Velesto Energy Bhd edged down half a sen to 24 sen, and Scope Industries Bhd gave up 2.5 sen to 16.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slid 72.42 points to 10,639.21, the FBMT 100 Index fell  69.49 points to 10,316.02, the FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 88.94 points to 10,969.05, the FBM 70 Index slipped 85.63 points to 13,388.86, and the FBM ACE Index declined 38.83 points to 5,480.59. 

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index was down by 46.03 points to 15,995.47, the Plantation Index decreased 20.33 points to 6,833.01, the Energy Index fell 11.47 points to 862.0, and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 2.73 points to 186.03. 

The Main Market volume increased to 2.29 billion shares worth RM1.73 billion, from Tuesday's 1.72 billion shares worth RM1.44 billion. 

Warrant turnover dwindled to 364.31 million units worth RM65.77 million, from 424.71 million units worth RM68.59 million a day ago.

The ACE Market volume shrank to 749.65 million shares worth RM271.48 million, from 1.05 billion shares worth RM328.44 million previously.

Consumer product and service counters accounted for 295.70 million shares traded on the Main Market, followed by industrial products and services (427.05 million), construction (63.74 million), technology (835.44 million), special purpose acquisition companies (nil), financial services (71.93 million), property (109.13 million), plantation (55.03 million), real estate investment trusts (11.36 million), closed/funds (11,300), energy (269.81 million), healthcare (70.43 million), telecommunications and media (24.18 million), transportation and logistics (41.0 million), and utilities (16.55 million).