KL shares end mixed

Share prices ended mixed today in line with the sentiment on regional markets and in the face of China's weak manufacturing data, dealers said.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) also finished 0.19 of a point lower at 1,637.44, due to profit taking in selected heavyweights after recent gains.

The benchmark index, which opened at 1,636.47, hovered between 1,636.47 and 1,640.6 throughout the trading day.

Advancers led decliners by 362 to 272, with 323 counters unchanged, 686 untraded and 22 others suspended.

Total volume declined to 878 million shares valued at RM1.45 billion from the 1.01 billion shares worth RM1.98 billion yesterday.

Dealers said China's official purchasing managers index (PMI) showed that manufacturing growth fell to 50.1 in February from the 50.4 recorded in the previous month.

As a result, Asian equities moved in a narrow range, with the benchmark MSCI Asia Pacific Index down 19.50 points to 5,100.90.

China's Shanghai Composite fell 6.09 points to 2,359.51 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 140.05 points to 22,880.22, but Indonesia's Jakarta Composite gained 15.82 points to 4,811.61.

A marginally weaker overnight US bourse also affected local and regional bourses.

"Investors took profit while waiting for new market leads to emerge," HwangDBS Vickers Research said.

The research house said the key FBM KLCI declined a little after closing at its intra-day high of 1,637.63 yesterday.

"It gave back parts of its six-day cumulative gains of 24.3 points," it added.

The Finance Index fell 12.14 points to 15,163.95, the Plantation Index lost 7.51 points to 7,865.11, and the Industrial Index slipped 2.45 points to 2,807.44.

The FBM Emas Index rose 5.229 points to 11,144.27, the FBMT100 advanced 2.431 points to 10,997.78, and the FBM Mid 70 Index improved 19.689 points to 12,185.59, while the FBM Ace Index was 34.5 points higher at 3,990.41.

Among top gainers, Shell Refining and Tradewinds Plantation rose 50 sen each to RM8.82 and RM4.95 respectively, while Padiberas Nasional gained 39 sen to RM3.67.

Of the actives, Patimas Computers increased half sen to five sen, while both Ingenuity Consolidated and GPRO Technologies were flat at 10 sen and 11 sen, respectively.

For the heavyweights, Maybank fell five sen to RM9.10 and Axiata lost four sen to RM6.36, while Sime Darby was flat at RM9.21.

Volume on the Main Market decreased to 687.96 million shares valued at RM1.43 billion from 824.99 million shares worth RM1.96 billion yesterday.

Turnover on the ACE market increased to 168.21 million shares worth RM17.97 million from the 162.36 million shares valued at RM14.74 million on Thursday.

Warrants rose to 21.5 million units valued at RM1.55 million from the 21.34 million units worth RM1.53 million previously.

Consumer products accounted for 30.43 million shares on the Main Market, industrial products 121 million, construction 37.4 million, trade and services 222.54 million, technology 82.05 million, infrastructure 17 million, finance 37.26 million, hotels 866,400, properties 113.4 million, plantations 18.5
million, mining 12,000, REITs 8.06 million and closed/fund 79,000.-- Bernama