Bursa Malaysia Lower At Mid-day On Profit-taking

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 3 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia remained lower at midday on continued profit-taking in selective blue-chip and small-cap stocks, analysts said.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 1.41 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 1,636.39, from Thursday’s close of 1,637.80.

The benchmark index opened 20.93 points firmer at 1,658.73, and moved between 1,632.28 and 1,658.73 during the morning session.

Market breadth was negative, with decliners leading gainers 488 to 445. Meanwhile, 492 counters remained unchanged, 1,149 were untraded, and 17 were suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.64 billion units, valued at RM1.24 billion.

Maybank Investment Bank Bhd said investors would be watching closely for the upcoming US non-farm payroll data tonight, as renewed concerns over US labour conditions could have spillover effects on the Malaysian market.

“Technically, we expect the benchmark index to range between 1,630 and 1,650 today, with support remaining at 1,550 and 1,500,” it said in a note. 

Among the heavyweights, Maybank added one sen to RM9.99, Public Bank was down three sen to RM4.34, CIMB and IHH Healthcare shed one sen each to RM7.59 and RM8.25 respectively, and Tenaga was unchanged at RM13.46.

In active trading, Borneo Oil, EA Holdings and NexG Bina were flat at half-a-sen, half-a-sen and 9.5 sen respectively, SCIB gained 4.5 sen to 21 sen, and Zetrix AI eased one sen to 84.5 sen.

Top gainers included Dutch Lady, up 26 sen to RM27.26; Sam Engineering & Equipment, up 25 sen to RM4.53; Nestle, up 24 sen to RM97.36; United Plantations, up 24 sen to RM23.22; and Bursa Malaysia, up 15 sen to RM8.25.

Top losers were Malaysian Pacific Industries, down 38 sen to RM31.36; Allianz Malaysia, down 22 sen to RM18.52; Petronas Dagangan, down 14 sen to RM23.06; PIE, down 11 sen to RM3.25; and Paragon, down 10 sen to RM2.75.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 0.80 of a point to 12,191.50, the FBM 100 Index added 0.45 of a point to 11,921.19, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 8.68 points to 12,230.71, and the FBM 70 Index advanced 47.51 points to 17,118.99. The FBM ACE Index, however, eased 1.61 points to 5,319.20.

By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.42 of a point to 174.61, the Energy Index improved 3.82 points to 786.98, the Plantation Index shed 7.38 points to 7,796.17, and the Financial Services Index slipped to 18,571.75.

-- BERNAMA