Bursa Malaysia Ends Morning Session In Negative Territory

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 6 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session down as investors sold selected plantation and financial services blue chip stocks. 

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 3.89 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 1,625.57 compared with Friday’s close of 1,629.46. 

The index had initially opened 0.28 of-a-point higher at 1,629.74 and traded between 1,623.83 and 1,631.71 during the session. 

On the broader market, decliners led gainers 526 to 397, with 490 counters unchanged, 940 untraded and 10 suspended. Turnover totalled 2.27 billion units worth RM1.38 billion. 

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI ended lower to just below the 1,630 level amid continued profit-taking activities.

“Despite the absence of catalysts, we believe some stock accumulation to emerge as we expect foreign funds may be forced to re-look at Asia as a prime destination in view of the stuttering United States market.

“As such, we anticipate the index to trend between the 1,630-1,640 range today,” he said.

Among the heavyweights, IOI Corporation rose two sen to RM3.87, and both Maxis and YTL Corporation added one sen to RM3.65 and RM2.75, respectively. Meanwhile, CIMB, MISC and 99 Speedmart all slid one sen to RM8.10, RM7.60 and RM2.41, respectively.

Of the active stocks, Velocity increased half-a-sen to 7.5 sen, Top Glove gained four sen to RM1.37, and Careplus inched up one sen to 27 sen.

However, MYEG and Velesto fell to one sen each to 97.5 sen and 15.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 5.58 points to 12,528.06, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased by 8.03 points to 12,538.46, and the FBMT 100 Index shed 5.63 points to 12,197.26.   

The FBM 70 Index garnered 78.35 points to 18,945.69, and the FBM ACE Index edged up 1.26 points to 5,473.82.   

By sector, the Plantation Index dwindled 10.0 points to 7,588.51, the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 0.05 of-a-point to 174.40, the Financial Services Index lost 37.13 points to 18,985.93, but the Energy Index improved by 5.79 points to 857.09.

-- BERNAMA