KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia turned lower on Friday as investors cashed in on some of th gains made in the previous sessions ahead of the US earnings season and digested data that showd China recorded a trade deficit of nearly US$5bil in March.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 4.17 points to 1,869.45. Turnover was RM1.31bil with a value of RM827.85mil. However, market breadth remained positive with 310 decliners versus 493 advancers and 313 counters unchanged.
Banking heavyweight Public Bank ended the morning session eight sen lower at RM23.96 while Hong Leong Bank dipped six sen to RM18.84.
MISC fell 12 sen to RM7.04 while Maxis dropped three sen to RM5.84 and Axiata slipped two sen to RM5.38.
Other decliners on the 30-stock index included Astro
, sliding 11 sen to RM1.98, Genting falling eight sen to RM8.97 and Telekom Malaysia losing three sen to RM5.52.
Plantation counter KL Kepong dropped 38 sen to RM25.60.
Gaining traction, IHH Healthcare rose four sen to RM6.13, Nestle added 10 sen to RM149.50 and Sime Darby Plantation added one sen to RM5.60.
Leading gainers on the broader market included Dutch Lady, rising 48 sen to RM66.98, Carlsberg adding 36 sen to RM19.56 and Aeon Credit, putting on 30 sen to RM12.78.
Decliners included British American Tobacco, losing 14 sen to RM23.34, Hartalega dropping 11 sen to RM6.53 and Genting Plantation, sliding 11 sen to RM9.97.
Oil prices retraced some gains as US President Donald Trump eased back on earlier remarks about launching missiles at Syria. WTI crude lost six cents to US$67.01 barrel while Brent crude dropped seven cents to US$71.95 a barrel.
In currencies, the ringgit trended slightly lower against the greenback to 3.8798. It also fell 0.6% against the pound sterling at 5.5220 and was marginally weaker against the Singapore dollar at 2.9880.
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