Bursa Malaysia Remains Lower At Midday On Selling Pressure

KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia remained lower at midday as a widespread sell-off in small-cap stocks dragged the broader market into negative territory.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) weakened 13.81 points, or 0.89 per cent, to 1,522.65 from Monday’s close of 1,536.46.  

The benchmark index, which opened 10.45 points lower at 1,526.01, moved between 1,519.76 and 1,527.19 during the morning trading session.

The market breadth was weak, with losers outnumbering gainers 928 to 113, while 308 counters were unchanged, 1,025 untraded, and seven suspended. 

Turnover stood at 2.26 billion shares worth RM1.53 billion.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd opined that the new US trade policies could lead to increased retaliation from its trade partners, potentially slowing the global economy.

The brokerage said this week, traders would closely monitor the US inflation data, US producer price index, and US unemployment claims to gauge the outlook for monetary policy and overall economic sentiment.

It said that with the weaker sentiment abroad, selling pressure may persist on the local front.

“However, we expect traders to turn towards sectors that are relatively stable and defensive at this juncture as a more conservative approach.

“We still favour the banking sector, and we expect bargain hunting to emerge, given the sector is supported by stable loan growth and appealing dividends, while real estate investment trusts could gain traction amid recovering footfall,” it added.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Petronas Gas fell four sen each to RM10.54 and RM16.64 respectively, and IHH Healthcare dropped seven sen to RM7.23, but CelcomDigi added two sen to RM3.57 and Sime Darby gained three sen to RM2.11.

As for the actives, MYEG decreased 2.5 sen to 88 sen, Nationgate slid two sen to RM1.12 and Velesto eased half-a-sen to 15 sen, while NEXG and KNM were flat at 26 sen and 5.0 sen respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index narrowed 150.97 points to 11,262.12, the FBM 70 Index tumbled 324.43 points to 15,801.56, the FBM Emas Shariah Index ticked down 183.59 points to 10,844.64, the FBM ACE Index slipped 126.81 points to 4,395.53, and the FBMT 100 Index declined 133.66 points to 11,064.17.

By sector, the Plantation Index dipped 90.97 points to 7,327.74, the Financial Services Index shed 122.19 points to 18,846.25, the Industrial Products and Services Index decreased 2.77 points to 150.88, and the Energy Index reduced 21.92 points to 686.11.

-- BERNAMA