KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 13): Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session slightly lower due to emerging profit-taking in selected industrial products and services as well as technology counters, dealers said.
At lunch break, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.34 of-a-point to 1,501.63 from Thursday’s close of 1,501.97.
The market bellwether, which opened 1.39 points better at 1,503.36, fluctuated between 1,500.48 and 1,507.54 throughout the session.
On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 491 versus 338, while 409 counters were unchanged, 978 untraded and 32 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.92 billion units worth RM965.92 million.
A dealer said Asian markets were mostly weaker, despite the broadly positive sentiment from the overnight Wall Street as investors remain concerned over the recent regulatory crackdown in China and the alarming spread of the highly contagious coronavirus variants in the region.
The Chinese government has recently unveiled a five-year plan, outlining tighter regulation of much of its economy.
It said new rules will be introduced, covering areas including national security, technology and monopolies in the world’s second-largest economy.
Back home, heavyweights Malayan Banking Bhd rose two sen to RM8.03, Public Bank Bhd was flat at RM3.95, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd and IHH Healthcare Bhd slipped two sen each to RM7.97 and RM5.81, respectively, while Tenaga Nasional Bhd declined four sen RM9.66.
Among the actives, Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd and KNM Group Bhd added 1.5 sen each to 43.5 sen and 21.5 sen, respectively, while Dagang NeXchange Bhd fell two sen to 79.5 sen and Komarkcorp Bhd slipped 1.5 sen to 14.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 10.26 points lower at 10,997.24, the FBMT 100 Index shed 10.79 points to 10,713.08, the FBM 70 slipped 47.38 points to 14,489.99, the FBM Emas Shariah Index dipped 23.76 points to 12,063.19 and the FBM ACE reduced 65.44 points to 7,079.59.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index went up 4.23 points to 14,775.56, the Plantation Index improved 7.66 points to 6,129.19, while the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.04 of-a-point to 188.76.-BERNAMA