KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia continued its downtrend to close lower at midday, in line with regional sell-off on tech stocks following US chipmaker Nvidia’s talks with OpenAI to help fund a US$250 billion backstop.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 0.24 of a point to 1,712.85 from yesterday’s close of 1,713.09.
The benchmark index opened 1.14 points lower at 1,711.95, before fluctuating between 1,703.83 and 1,713.25 during the morning trading session.
The broader market was negative, with losers outpacing gainers 691 to 252, while 473 counters were unchanged, 1,364 untraded and 36 suspended.
Turnover totalled 1.66 billion shares worth RM1.19 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng told Bernama the recent news on Nvidia has translated into weaker performance of the regional market, with South Korea's KOSPI down 9.72 per cent to 6,098.95 and Japan's Nikkei sliding 3.89 per cent to 62,407.25.
Besides, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index shed 0.11 per cent to 25,178.21, Shanghai’s SSE Composite Index was 0.98 per cent weaker to 3,820.52, Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.21 per cent to 5,608.54 and Indonesia’s IDX Composite Index tumbled 0.04 per cent to 6,183.16
Among heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals fell 13 sen to RM4.62, 99 Speedmart eased nine sen to RM3.61, Sunway Healthcare and Axiata declined four sen each to RM1.91 and RM1.94, and IOI Corporation lost six sen to RM4.39.
Among active stocks, V.S Industry and SNS Network Technology slipped one sen each to 22 sen and 55 sen, Dagang Exchange decreased two sen to 43 sen, while Tanco gained half sen to 25 sen.
Among the top gainers, Nestle advanced 48 sen to RM91.78, Ideal Capital jumped 25 sen to RM4, Tenaga Nasional strengthened 20 sen to RM14.66, Dutch Lady
Milk Industries added 18 sen to RM32 and KLCC Property and REITS increased 16 sen to RM8.85.
Malaysian Pacific Industries led the losers, falling RM2.12 to RM43.94, UMS Integration shed 58 sen to RM7.32, Batu Kawan lost 48 sen to RM20.70, Allianz declined 28 sen to RM21.02 and Kelington slipped 24 sen to RM7.97.
Among the broader indices, the FBM Emas Index fell 18.97 points to 12,644.21, the FBMT 100 Index inched down 12.93 points to 12,478.73, and the FBM Mid 70 Index decreased 66.32 points to 17,903.70.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 30.02 points to 12,456.84, and the FBM ACE Index eased 56.08 points to 4,862.79.
By sector, the Energy Index fell 5.05 points to 764.29, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 1.43 points to 185.41, and the Plantation Index slumped 60.38 points to 9,224.13, but the Financial Services Index gained 5.71 points to 20,246.38. - Bernama
