BURSA MALAYSIA LOWER AT MIDDAY IN SYNC WITH REGIONAL PEERS

KUALA LUMPUR, June 27 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia remained in negative territory at midday, in line with most regional peers as investors exercise caution ahead of the United States (US) inflation data, said an analyst. 

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 0.42 per cent or 6.61 points to 1,584.34 from Wednesday's close of 1,590.95.

The benchmark index opened 0.58 of-a-point firmer at 1,591.53 and moved between 1,583.83 and 1,592.26 throughout the morning session.

On the broader market, decliners surpassed gainers 677 to 302, while 737 counters were unchanged, 1,036 untraded, and 73 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 2.61 billion units worth RM1.49 billion.

Stockbroking firm Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index data, due on Friday, may dictate the US interest rate direction.

"This week, traders will still be monitoring the PCE data to understand more clues on the interest rate directions going forward," it said in a note. 

Malacca Securities said as the US technology giants rebounded for the second session, it expects bargain hunting to extend to local technology stocks, led by the rising demand in data centres, artificial intelligence, and cloud services.

"Going forward, we like defensive characteristic consumer stocks and the shipping industry, which is likely to expect incremental growth as the shipping supply chain could be under strain again with longer waits for containers and shipping," it said. 

Among the heavyweights, Maybank slipped five sen to RM9.91, Public Bank eased one sen to RM4, CIMB and IHH Healthcare gained one sen to RM6.77 and RM6.28, respectively, while Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM13.92. 

As for the actives, YNH Property shed 10 sen to 50.5 sen, MY E.G. edged down four sen to 98 sen, Ingenieur Gudang inched down half-a-sen to six sen, and Dagang NeXchange eased 1.5 sen to 45 sen, while SBH Marine improved 2.5 sen to 34.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 49.90 points to 12,160.85, the FBMT 100 Index gave up 49.92 points to 11,742.42, the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 63.21 points to 12,504.33, the FBM 70 Index tumbled 78.80 points to 17,710.06, and the FBM ACE Index shed 21.21 points to 5,702.10.

Sector-wise, the Energy Index dipped 6.09 points to 953.90, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased by one point to 195.84, the Plantation Index slipped by 21.39 points to 6,966.54, and the Financial Services Index slid 46.88 points to 17,398.35.

-- BERNAMA