Bursa Malaysia Ends Morning Session Easier

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed the morning session lower, weighed down by continuous profit-taking amid a lack of fresh catalysts, tracking the softer regional market movement.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 10.19 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 1,674.34 from Tuesday’s close of 1,684.53.

The barometer index, which opened 2.75 points lower at 1,681.78, moved between 1,671.59 and 1,681.78 throughout the session.

The market breadth was negative with decliners thumping gainers 521 to 271, while 532 counters were unchanged, 1,362 untraded and 41 suspended.

Turnover amounted to 925.4 million units valued at RM656.5 million.

Public Investment Bank Bhd said in a note that it expected sentiment in Asian markets to remain mixed as investors entered the final trading day of the year.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank fell four sen to RM10.46 and RM4.50 respectively, CIMB dropped 10 sen to RM8.13, Tenaga Nasional lost six sen to RM13.72, and IHH eased two sen to RM8.58.

On the most active list, Zetrix gave up one sen to 81 sen, Tanco and Inari Amertron gained one sen each to RM1.16 and RM1.71, Mega Fortis added half a sen to 88.5 sen and Jiankun was unchanged at three sen.

Of the top gainers, Dutch Lady rose 18 sen to RM30.98, Petronas Dagangan gained 14 sen to RM20, Magna Prima added 12 sen to 69.5 sen, while Ralco and LPI both increased 10 sen to 83 sen and RM14.96 respectively.

As for the top losers, MPI shed 54 sen to RM32.34, F&N lost 32 sen to RM35.48, Allianz gave up 30 sen to RM19.94, Petronas Gas shed 28 sen to RM18.12 and Hong Leong Bank slid 18 sen to RM22.36.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slid 56.81 points to 12,271.73, the FBMT Top 100 Index declined 59.61 points to 12,076.78, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 35.74 points to 12,083.83.

The FBM Mid 70 Index went down 20.11 points to 16,810.34, and the FBM ACE Index lost 12.03 points to 4,849.27.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 146.26 points to 19,620.53 and the Plantation Index shaved 41.85 points to 8,300.34, the Energy Index was down 3.35 points to 765.38 and the Industrial Products and Services Index slid 0.16 of a point to 173.67.

-- BERNAMA