KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia closed lower yesterday tracking the lower regional markets on worries of slower economic activities globally, dealers said.

“The Malaysian market is not an exception. Fund managers worldwide are holding on to their investments as the markets are too volatile,” a dealer said.

He said selling on the local bourse was moderate compared to the major bourses like Hong Kong, Thailand and Japan which saw their benchmark indices slumped by more than six per cent.

“Our shares are oversold. They no longer reflect their values. We have now plenty of cheap, quality and undervalued stocks,” he said.

Losses, mostly on plantation and financial stocks, dragged the benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) to close at its three-and-a-half-year low of 859.11, losing 32.21 points, or 3.61 per cent.

The KLCI, which opened 2.47 points lower at 888.85, moved between 853.52 and 889.22 in active trading.

The Industrial Index fell 43.94 points to 2,065.03, Finance Index declined 248.82 points to 6,602.90 and the Plantation Index eased 379.99 points to 3,308.63.

The FBMEmas slipped 252.88 points to 5,617.28, FBM30 lost 224.75 points to 5,572.34, FBM2BRD decreased 242.01 points to 4,176.48 and the FBMMesdaq Index was 131.63 points lower at 3,290.23.

Losers outnumbered gainers by 677 to 110 while 137 counters were unchanged, 408 untraded and 26 others suspended.

Volume rose to 899.077 million shares worth RM1.762 billion from 579.384 million shares worth RM1.043 billion on Thursday.

Plantation stock IOI Corp was most actively traded.

It lost 57 sen to RM2.45.

KNM Group fell 9.5 sen to 50 sen and Sime Darby dropped 25 sen to RM6.00.

Among banking stocks, Public Bank dropped 20 sen to RM8.55, Maybank fell 10 sen to RM5.05 and Bumiputra-Commerce lost 40 sen to RM6.40.

MISC erased five sen to RM8.15 while Tenaga Nasional bucked the trend to gain five sen to RM6.50.

Volume on the Main Board rose to 791.964 million shares worth RM1.749 billion from 494.566 million shares worth RM1.029 billion on Thursday.

Turnover on the Second Board increased to 36.717 million units worth RM7.718 million from 21.967 million units worth RM6.607 million previously.

Volume on the Mesdaq Market decreased to 43.219 million shares worth RM4.795 million from 50.712 million shares worth RM6.287 million on Thursday.

Call warrants rose to 27.176 million units worth RM670,885 from 12.138 million units worth RM433,364 on Thursday.

Direct business deals increased to 67.262 million shares worth RM63.840 million from 37.670 million shares worth RM29.699 million previously.

On a sectoral basis, consumer products accounted for 14.329 million shares traded on the Main Board, industrial products 144.966 million, construction 70.966 million and trade/services 234.609 million.

— Bernama