Bursa Malaysia Stays Lower At Midday On Selling Pressures

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia continued its downward momentum at midday as selling activities persisted in selected heavyweight counters, led by financial services, industrial products and services, as well as the utilities counters.

Public Bank eased 5.0 sen to RM4.90, Petronas Chemicals fell 9.0 sen to RM3.19, and YTL Power International shed 6.0 sen to RM3.22. These counters dragged the composite index down by a combined 3.85 points.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.11 per cent, or 1.83 points, to 1,746.43 compared with yesterday’s close of 1,748.26.

The barometer index opened 1.84 points lower at 1,746.42, and moved between 1,741.32 and 1,751.22 throughout the morning trading session.

On the broader market, decliners outnumbered gainers 568 to 360, with 510 counters unchanged, 1,197 untraded and six suspended.

The market turnover stood at 1.35 billion shares, valued at RM1.25 billion.

In a note, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said that after the FBM KLCI ended higher yesterday on healthy blue-chip accumulation and steady buying interest, any near-term consolidation is likely to be temporary.

“The overall sentiment is also expected to stay positive, hence we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,740-1,760 for today,” it said. 

Among other heavyweights, Axiata Group slid 4.0 sen to RM2.43, YTL Corporation edged down 3.0 sen to RM2.05 and Telekom Malaysia fell 9.0 sen to RM7.95, while Maybank added 10 sen to RM12.04, and IHH Healthcare was 12 sen higher at RM9.00.   

On the most active list, Pharmaniaga and Capital A inched up half-a-sen to 33 sen and 60 sen, respectively, and Tanco edged up one sen to RM1.34, while Bina Puri Holdings shed half-a-sen to 29.5 sen, and Dagang NeXchange fell 1.0 sen to 29 sen.  

Of the top gainers, United Plantations advanced 60 sen to 29.78, Dutch Lady Milk Industries gained 20 sen to RM33.48, Allianz Malaysia was 14 sen firmer at RM22.42, Guocoland (Malaysia) jumped 11.5 sen to RM1.05, and Westports Holdings was up by 10 sen to RM5.98. 

Malaysian Pacific Industries led the decliners, falling 46 sen to RM32.60, Fraser & Neave slipped 40 sen to RM34.40, Petronas Dagangan shrank 20 sen to RM20.12, Nestle was 20 sen lower at RM112, and Pentamaster Corporation slid 13 sen to RM3.19.

On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index decreased 9.65 points to 12,587.67, the FBM Emas Index reduced 11.50 points to 12,764.91, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 16.65 points to 12,280.92, and the FBM ACE Index slipped 23.73 points to 4,683.32, while the FBM Mid 70 Index put on 2.46 points to 17,480.20.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gained 13.76 points to 21,538.21, the Plantation Index improved 14.39 points to 8,387.44, the Energy Index rose 1.35 points to 751.43, and the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.92 of-a-point to 176.52.

-- BERNAMA