KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia bucked the regional trend and extended its decline at midday on continuous selling in selected blue-chip counters due to profit-taking activities.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 1.43 per cent or 25.12 points to 1,731.37 from Wednesday’s close of 1,756.49.
The barometer index opened 3.18 points lower at 1,753.31, and moved between 1,719.52 and 1,753.31 throughout the morning trading session.
On the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 808 to 273 while 469 counters were unchanged. A total of 1,169 counters were untraded and 109 suspended.
Market turnover stood at 1.79 million shares, valued at RM1.91 million.
Given the FBM KLCI’s previously overextended rally, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd expects profit-taking to persist today, with the strength of the ringgit further dampening the technology and export-oriented sectors.
"Wednesday’s session saw the FBM KLCI experience a pullback after a five-day winning streak, but technical indicators are still showing positive signals.
"Resistance is anticipated around 1,771-1,776, while support is seen at 1,736-1,741 today,” it said in a statement.
Among heavyweights, Maybank dropped 16 sen to RM11.64, Public Bank shed eight sen to RM4.87, CIMB declined by 14 sen to RM8.51, Tenaga Nasional decreased by 10 sen to RM13.98, and IHH Healthcare dipped 20 sen to RM8.82.
On the most active list, Zetrix AI shed two sen to 80 sen, Capital A added 3.5 sen to 62 sen, both Bina Puri Holdings
and Niche Capital Emas inched up half-a-sen to 30 sen and 12 sen, respectively.
Among the top gainers, Dutch Lady Milk Industries increased 70 sen to RM33.72, Kuala Lumpur Kepong advanced 24 sen to RM20.06, Allianz Malaysia put on 22 sen to RM23.22, and Country View perked up 18 sen to RM3.14.
As for the top decliners, Nestle advanced 50 sen to RM114.00, VSTECS added 18 sen to RM4.21, Southern Cable Group gained seven sen to RM2.13, and KJTS edged up 5.5 sen to 87.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index contracted 163.28 points to 12,493.90, the FBM Emas Index reduced 158.30 points to 12,684.09, the FBM Mid 70 Index was 146.33 points lower at 17,416.90, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 134.93 points to 12,261.34, but the FBM ACE Index rose 2.11 points to 4,748.87.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 356.23 points to 21,151.45, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 2.25 points to 175.76, the Energy Index slid 6.62 points to 750.81, and the Plantation Index declined 70.14 points to 8,374.64. - Bernama
