Bursa Malaysia remained in negative territory at the end of Tuesday, dragged by selling in selected heavyweights including three Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas)-linked companies, a dealer said.

At the close, the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 5.38 points to end at its intraday low of 1,748.99, after moving between 1,748.99 and 1,755.43 throughout the day. It opened 0.93 of-a-point lower at 1,753.44 from Monday’s close of 1,754.37.

On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers by 469 to 394 with 415 counters unchanged, 566 untraded and 19 others suspended.

Volume decreased to 2.89 billion units worth RM2.28 billion from 3.16 billion units worth RM2.27 billion on Monday.

A dealer said the three Petronas-linked companies, namely Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Petronas Gas Bhd and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd lost 72 sen, 18 sen and two sen to RM24.28, RM18.50 and RM7.33 respectively.

The three counters contributed a collective 2.09 points to the loss in the benchmark index.

“Although the crude oil price is currently higher at US$58.10 (RM245.39) per barrel, up by 28 cents, the three companies are in the downstream sector, hence the higher oil price did not have a positive impact on their share prices,” the dealer said.

Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.38% to 21,336.12, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.02% to 28,697.49 and South Korea’s Kospi added 0.17% to 2,484.37.

Of the other heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd eased four sen to RM9.42, Sime Darby Bhd fell one sen to RM9.07, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd lost nine sen to RM6.15, while Tenaga Nasional Bhd rose two sen to RM14.28.

The FBM Emas Index lost 40.16 points to 12,554.33, FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 35.42 points to 12,866.81, and the FBM 70 dropped 62.78 points to 15,281.06. The FBM T100 Index was down 40.68 points to 12,199.91 but the FBM ACE added 10.29 points to 6,985.94.

The Main Market volume rose to 1.53 billion units worth RM2 billion from 1.48 billion units worth RM2 billion. — Bernama