KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia stayed lower at midday as investor sentiment weakened amid the absence of concrete deals and policy breakthroughs between China and the United States following US President Donald Trump’s visit to China.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 6.60 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 1,733.62 from last Friday's close of 1,740.22.
The benchmark index, which opened 1.72 points higher at 1,741.94, moved between 1,731.11 and 1,742.60 during the morning session.
Market breadth was negative with losers surpassing gainers 794 to 312, while 483 counters were unchanged, 1,125 untraded and 32 suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.0 billion units valued at RM1.32 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said China’s President Xi Jinping’s warning on Taiwan’s independence coupled with unresolved trade truce further fueled a risk-off mood across global financial markets.
"As a result, Wall Street closed broadly lower as traders decided to lock in profits, especially on tech stocks. Meanwhile, the US 10-year yield edged higher at 4.597 per cent amid inflationary pressure,” he told Bernama.
He projected the index would hover within the 1,735-1,750 range today.
Among the heavyweights, IHH Healthcare rose two sen to RM9.06 and Maybank slipped two sen to RM11.08, while Public Bank and CIMB fell five sen each to RM4.86 and RM7.83, respectively. Tenaga Nasional, meanwhile, was flat at RM14.54.
As for the most active counters, GIIB increased 1.5 sen to 30.5 sen, Advance Synergy
and Top Glove edged up one sen each to 8.5 sen and 79 sen, respectively, VS Industry gave up half a sen to 20 sen, and AirAsia X slid three sen to RM1.12.
Of the top gainers, Allianz Malaysia jumped 26 sen to RM21.74, Westports surged 19 sen to RM6.00, Vitrox Corporation went up 15 sen to RM6.14, Tong Herr Resources added 13 sen to RM1.75 and Petronas Chemicals gained 11 sen to RM5.70.
Among the top losers, Nestle lost RM4.60 to RM95.60, Malaysian Pacific Industries dropped 96 sen to RM43.14, Batu Kawan slid 54 sen to RM20.44, Petronas Gas fell 34 sen to RM17.84, and PPB Group was 28 sen easier at RM10.52.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index erased 68.25 points to 12,826.62, the FBM Top 100 Index weakened 64.66 points to 12,668.65, the FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 56.67 points to 12,766.18, the FBM Mid 70 Index dropped 163.96 points to 18,341.05, and the FBM ACE Index edged down 50.52 points to 4,692.22.
By sector, the Financial Services Index reduced 83.84 points to 20,170.47, the Energy Index eased 3.17 points to 805.72, and the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.58 of a point to 199.37, but the Plantation Index improved 20.59 points to 8,606.02. - Bernama
