KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed lower today amid profit-taking in selected banking and telecommunications heavyweights, despite improved market breadth driven by renewed buying interest in small-cap technology stocks.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said that across the region, equities were mostly higher, with Hong Kong and mainland China staging a recovery as investors assessed the implications of a divided US government.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) decreased 5.29 points or 0.32% to 1,616.56 from yesterday’s close of 1,621.85.

The benchmark index opened 1.46 points higher at 1,623.31, marking its intraday high, and subsequently hit a low of 1,614.34 during the mid-afternoon session.