Bursa Malaysia Remains Lower At Midday On Persistent Profit-taking

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 15 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session lower on persistent profit-taking in most key indices and selected heavyweights.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slid 2.41 points to 1,609.94 from Wednesday’s close of 1,612.35.

The benchmark index, which started the day 2.28 points higher at 1,614.63, fluctuated between 1,605.69 and 1,614.69 throughout the morning session.

In the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 684 to 242, with 410 counters unchanged, 1,141 untraded and 10 suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.23 billion units worth RM1.37 billion.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said that given the positive sentiment on Wall Street, it believed buying interest may spill over into local stocks, specifically in the technology sector. 

“Additionally, the strong ringgit situation may benefit the Consumer and REIT sectors,” it said in a note today.

Malacca Securities added that on the technical front, the resistance level is envisaged to be around 1,627 to 1,632, and the support is set at 1,592 to 1,597. 

In heavyweight trading, Petronas Chemicals lost 12.0 sen to RM5.33, Petronas Dagangan fell 50 sen to RM18.98, SD Guthrie shed 7.0 sen to RM4.54, while Maybank and CelcomDigi were 4.0 sen lower to RM10.16 and RM3.80, respectively.

Among the most active counters, SP Setia slid 24 sen to RM1.28, Cape EMS gave up 3.0 sen to 43 sen, Sime Darby Property shaved 13.0 sen to RM1.36, and Hiap Teck Venture eased half-a-sen to 11.5 sen. 

On the index front, the FBM Emas Index weakened 34.21 points to 12,255.31, the FBMT 100 Index shed 31.03 points to 11,898.21, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined by 66.39 points to 12,363.13. 

The FBM 70 Index tumbled 213.78 points to 17,701.79, and the FBM ACE Index slipped 67.83 points to 5,323.46.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gained 5.52 points to 18,228.77. Meanwhile, the Plantation Index fell by 23.88 points to 7,134.00, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased by 2.24 points to 180.79, and the Energy Index lost 0.88 of-a-point to 932.76.

-- BERNAMA