KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia remained lower in mid-morning on Friday, as selling in selected heavyweights, mainly financial and utilities counters, weighed on market sentiment amid mixed regional markets.
At 11 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 2.48 points to 1,749.63 points from Thursday’s close of 1,752.11.
The benchmark had opened 0.68 of-a-point higher at 1,752.79.
The broader market was negative with losers thumping gainers 539 to 231, while 440 counters were unchanged, 1,548 counters were untraded, and 24 counters were suspended.
Market turnover stood at 709.48 million shares worth RM566.77 million.
Across the region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index inched down 0.97 per cent to 26,447.16 points, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged down 1.29 per cent to 56,726.73 points. However, Singapore’s Straits Times Index inched up 0.05 per cent to 5,004.24 points, and South Korea’s Kospi was 1.46 per cent higher at 5,759.89 points.
Among heavyweights, Maybank rose 10 sen to RM12.16, Public Bank lost one sen to RM5.05, CIMB was flat at RM8.47, Tenaga Nasional dropped 12 sen to RM14.14, and IHH Healthcare fell 10 sen to RM8.81.
On the most active list, both Zetrix AI and VS Industry slid one sen to 84.5 sen and 38.5 sen, respectively. Astro Malaysia added 1.5 sen to 90 sen, Tanco advanced two sen to RM1.46, and Pharmaniaga rose half-a-sen to 31.5 sen.
Besides Maybank, other top gainers included Nestle, which rose by 20 sen to RM109.70, while IOI Properties was up 15 sen to RM3.65, 99 Speed Mart bagged 13 sen to RM3.63, and Chin Teck Plantations was 12 sen higher at RM10.68.
Leading decliners were Malaysian Pacific Industries, which lost 26 sen to RM30.52, while Petronas Gas tumbled 24 sen to RM18.32, and Allianz Malaysia fell by 22 sen to RM22.44. Meanwhile, Hong Leong Bank and Hong Leong Financial each lost 18 sen to RM24 and RM22.26, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index fell 23.46 points to 12,655.01, the FBM Emas Index dropped 27.38 points to 12,833.09, the FBM Mid 70 Index slid 57.89 points to 17,773.91, the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 50.35 points to 12,353.44, and the FBM ACE Index eased 32.51 points to 4,796.0.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index edged up 20.23 points to 21,585.33, while the Plantation Index fell by 3.87 points to 8,398.44, the Energy Index slipped 2.67 points to 771.44, and the Industrial Products and Services Index fell 1.09 points to 177.41. – BERNAMA
