Bursa Malaysia Lower at Mid-Morning

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia traded lower at mid-morning as sentiments and risk appetites remained subdued after a Wall Street sell-off overnight. 

At 11.06 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 10.46 points to 1,631.51, from Tuesday’s close of 1,641.97. 

The benchmark index initially opened 1.83 points higher at 1,643.80.

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The broader market was negative, with decliners outnumbering gainers 602 to 196, while 444 counters remained unchanged, 1,251 untraded, and eight suspended.

Turnover reached 1.10 billion units, valued at RM732.51 million.

SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said despite solid earnings from financial powerhouses like Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Bank of America, concerns about technology stocks and the gloomy global economic outlook are overshadowing the gains.

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"The tech sector's downturn and broader market jitters have dampened the optimism from strong bank earnings, leaving investors cautious as they navigate the turbulence ahead,” Innes said in a note.

Among the heavyweights, SD Guthrie and PMetal were 10 sen weaker at RM4.62 and RM4.72, respectively, YTL Corporation dropped 4.0 sen to RM2.27, Nestle fell RM1.60 to RM104.40, and Sunway shed 5.0 sen to RM4.40.

As for the active counters, Tanco slid 12 sen to RM1.38, Sime Darby Property fell 6.0 sen to RM1.49, Berjaya Corporation eased half-a-sen to 31.5 sen, Northeast Group dropped 2.0 sen to 48.5 sen and CN Asia was flat at 7.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased by 85.70 points to 12,238.50, the FBMT 100 Index slipped by 81.72 points to 11,943.15, the FBM Emas Shariah Index reduced by 103.15 points to 12,130.68, the FBM 70 Index lost 138.76 points to 17,465.04 and the FBM ACE Index narrowed by 33.96 points to 5,041.53.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index weakened by 94.85 points to 19,320.14, the Plantation Index was 57.90 points easier at 7,206.45, the Industrial Products and Services Index trimmed 1.69 points to 173.94, and the Energy Index shed 9.65 points to 847.03.

-- BERNAMA