KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia trended lower at midday, weighed down by profit-taking, mainly led by the property and healthcare stocks.
At 12.30 pm, the benchmark index was 2.14 points lower at 1,661.68 from Thursday’s close of 1,663.82.
The index opened 0.68 of-a-point higher at 1,664.50 and moved between 1,659.74 and 1,668.75 throughout the morning trading session.
Market breadth remained negative with decliners trumping gainers 700 to 280, while 407 counters were unchanged, 1,356 untraded and 65 suspended.
Turnover amounted to 1.63 billion shares valued at RM1 billion.
Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) said the FBM KLCI has turned increasingly bearish after technically breaking below the moving average (MA) 200 near 1,674, and is now struggling to defend its year-to-date low of around 1,663, with weakening momentum indicators reinforcing the deteriorating medium-term outlook.
It noted that unless the index could swiftly reclaim the 1,674, 1,686 (MA20) and 1,708 (MA50) resistance levels, downside risks are likely to persist toward 1,650 and 1,625.
"Near term, the FBM KLCI is likely to remain trapped in an extended range-bound consolidation as investors await stronger domestic catalysts,” HLIB said in a note.
Among heavyweights, IOI Properties
decreased 11 sen to RM3.94, Sunway Healthcare slid three sen to RM1.78, PMetal was down by 10 sen to RM7.69, YTL Power International dropped five sen to RM4.04, and MRDIY eased two sen to RM1.63.
As for the active counters, Widad shed half a sen to one sen, Zetrix AI was flat at 77 sen, AirAsia X slipped five sen to RM1.18, Dagang Nexchange lost 1.5 sen to RM0.43 sen, and Velesto fell one sen to RM0.27 sen.
On the gainers’ list, United Plantations ticked up 32 sen to RM32.62, Nestle rose 28 sen to RM95.90, Allianz bagged 28 sen to RM21.28, Petronas Dagangan grew 14 sen to RM18.54, and Petronas Chemicals strengthened by 14 sen to RM4.06.
Of the top losers, MPI fell RM1.66 to RM47.34, UMS Integration gave up 50 sen to RM8, Vitrox slipped 48 sen to RM7.37, Batu Kawan dropped 48 sen to RM21, and F&N fell 32 sen to RM27.86.
On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index was 45.68 points lower at 12,334.47, the FBM Top 100 Index weakened 41.63 points to 12,169.00, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index reduced 44.27 points to 12,243.40.
The FBM Mid 70 Index tumbled 170.87 points to 17,728.73, and the FBM ACE Index contracted 56.19 points to 4,730.87.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slid 42.61 points to 19,555.62, the Plantation Index trimmed 0.82 of a point to 8,847.44, and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.10 points to 179.68, while the Energy Index inched up 0.03 of a point to 745.43. - Bernama
