KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session lower as investors locked in gains in selected plantation and utilities blue-chip stocks.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 6.67 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 1,743.89 from Tuesday’s close of 1,750.56.
The benchmark index, which opened 0.10 of-a-point higher at 1,750.66, moved between 1,742.45 and 1,752.64 during the session.
Market breadth was negative, with losers outnumbering gainers 529 to 421, while 545 counters were unchanged, 1,180 untraded, and 13 suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.39 billion units valued at RM1.44 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said traders were awaiting the anticipated meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in the coming days.
"We note market velocity is gathering traction as daily traded volume has surpassed the four billion level over the last two days. As such, we expect the index to trend within the 1,745-1,755 range today,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd said heightened geopolitical tensions and a sharp rise in oil prices, amid the ongoing impasse between the United States and Iran, are likely to keep the KLCI in a range-bound consolidation phase.
"Investors will also be closely watching corporate guidance as they weigh still-resilient fundamentals against rising geopolitical risks, elevated energy prices and emerging growth headwinds,” it said in a note.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell four sen to RM11.20, Tenaga Nasional eased 14 sen to RM14.64, and IHH Healthcare slipped three sen to RM9.00, while Public Bank rose one sen to RM4.85 and CIMB added three sen to RM7.93.
Among the most active counters, Astro
and SMRT were flat at six sen and 27.5 sen respectively. WCT gained four sen to 52 sen, GIIB increased 3.5 sen to 24 sen and Genetec edged up one sen to 37 sen.
Top gainers included UMS Integration, which rose 55 sen to RM8.55, UWC added 20 sen to RM5.93, Dutch Lady gained 18 sen to RM33.00 and Frontken was 12 sen firmer at RM4.69.
Among the top losers, Hong Leong Industries slid 30 sen to RM19.00, Fraser & Neave gave up 22 sen to RM29.68, BLD Plantation eased 20 sen to RM14.80, while Petronas Dagangan fell 18 sen to RM20.14.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shed 36.82 points to 12,917.55, the FBM Top 100 Index weakened 39.19 points to 12,755.48, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 43.39 points to 12,830.90, the FBM Mid 70 Index lost 16.02 points to 18,517.05, and the FBM ACE Index slipped 4.85 points to 4,723.43.
By sector, the Financial Services Index erased 8.42 points to 20,292.88, while the Energy Index fell 4.91 points to 802.91. The Plantation Index declined 51.60 points to 8,746.46, while the Industrial Products and Services Index was up 0.29 of-a-point at 198.96. - Bernama
