Bursa Malaysia Ends Morning Session Lower
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia bucked the regional trend by closing the morning session lower, as selling in index heavyweights, led by financial services and utilities counters, weighed on the market.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was down 0.98 of a point or 0.05 per cent at 1,707.22 compared with Tuesday’s close of 1,708.20.
The market barometer, which opened 2.32 points lower at 1,705.884, moved between 1,704.03 and 1,711.66 during the session.
Market breadth remained positive, with advancers outnumbering decliners 543 to 426. A total of 500 counters were unchanged, 1,170 were untraded, and 12 were suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.75 billion units valued at RM1.41 billion.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, in a note today, said that in view of Wall Street's negative closing, a pullback could occur in the FBM KLCI.
“However, the elevated ringgit at the RM4.05 level would be able to provide support for the FBM KLCI, supported by banking, consumer goods, and real estate investment trusts,” it added.
Among the heavyweight stocks, Maybank was flat at RM11.06, CIMB fell three sen to RM8.35, Tenaga Nasional lost four sen to RM13.76, IHH Healthcare dropped 13 sen to RM8.41, and Public Bank added four sen to RM4.68.
On the most active list, Capital A soared eight sen to 52 sen, Zetrix AI edged up one sen to 83 sen, and Tanco bagged two sen to RM1.23. MMAG and Ingenieur were flat at 5.5 sen and 3.5 sen, respectively.
Among the top gainers, Petronas Dagangan jumped 34 sen to RM50.54, Hong Leong Financial climbed 32 sen to RM20.42, Petronas Gas surged 22 sen to RM18.58, and UWC and PPB advanced 16 sen each to RM4.51 and RM11.16, respectively.
Among the top decliners were Nestle, which dropped RM1.50 to RM118.30, while United Plantations decreased RM1.20 to RM32.80, Allianz decreased 22 sen to RM20.18, Bintulu Port reduced 13 sen to RM5.35, and Gamuda weakened 11 sen to RM4.80.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 9.35 points to 12,599.76, the FBM Top 100 Index gained 3.83 points to 12,388.80, and the FBM Mid 70 Index climbed 54.58 points to 17,582.39.
However, the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 5.90 points to 12,308.92 and the FBM ACE Index shaved off 0.11 of a point to 4,982.16.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index expanded 57.90 points to 20,476.22, the Energy Index inched down 0.88 of a point to 785.33, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.43 of a point to 174.28, and the Plantation Index slid 72.80 points to 8,487.88.
-- BERNAMA
