Heavyweights such as Sime Darby and Tenaga, which contribute significant weightage to the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI), were among the top losers.

At the close, the benchmark index ended the day 25.41 points lower at 1,439.94 after trading between 1,433.97 and 1,459.58 throughout the day.

The Finance Index lost 215.16 points to 13,079.87, the Plantation Index dropped 109.57 points to 7,323.18 and the Industrial Index slipped 52.88 points to 2,637.75.

The FBM Emas Index declined 182.12 points to 9,787.36, the FBM70 Index erased 210.14 points to 10,463.54, the FBMT100 trimmed 174.689 points to 9,619.08 and the FBM ACE slipped 85.15 points to 3,915.35.

Losers led gainers 705 to 145 while 173 counters were unchanged, 448 untraded and 29 others were suspended.

Total market volume dropped to 1.36 billion shares, valued at RM1.37 billion, from Monday’s 1.78 billion shares worth RM1.75 billion.

Volume on the Main Market declined to 1.03 billion shares worth RM1.33 billion from Monday’s 1.34 billion shares valued at RM1.78 billion.

Turnover on the ACE Market eased to 210.37 million units, valued at RM29.41 million, from 216.28 million units, worth RM31.38 million, transacted on Monday.

Of the top losers, PPB Group fell 44 sen to RM16.50, Kuala Lumpur Kepong declined 28 sen to RM20.70 and Sime Darby eased 25 sen to RM8.65.

Among actives, Harvest Court added 5 sen to 25.5 sen, Ho Wah Genting perked 1 sen to 39 sen and Ho Wah Genting Bhd-Warr 10/15 edged up 1.5 sen to 29 sen.

As for heavyweights, Maybank declined 12 sen to RM8.21, CIMB and Petronas Chemical decreased 18 sen each to RM7.19 and RM5.96 respectively. Sime Darby lost 25 sen to RM8.65 and Tenaga fell 22 sen to RM5.35.

Meanwhile, FBM KLCI futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives were sharply lower on profit-taking activities, dealers said.

October 2011 was down 40.5 points to 1,430, November 2011 declined 41.5 points to 1,423, December 2011 decreased 42 points to 1,418 and March 2012 lost 37.5 points to 1,413.5.

Turnover was at 10,505 lots while open interest stood at 26,160 contracts. – Bernama