KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 — Share prices on Bursa Malaysia stayed lower at mid-day today weighed on by external uncertainties, dealers said.

At the end of the morning session, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 9.72 points easier at 1,746.13.

A dealer said the market was reacting to the edgy external sentiment amid concerns over a slowing economy in China and the US Federal Reserve’s bond-buying reduction programme.

However, he added, the lower liners and small cap sector still managed to attract keen retail participation, sustaining robust trading momentum on the broader market.   

On the scoreboard, the Finance Index lost 33.65 points to 16,610.67, the Industrial Index shed 36.63 points to 2,943.02, and the Plantation Index improved 70.33 points to 8,168.38.

The FBM Emas Index fell 66.641 points to 12,106.02, the FBMT100 Index dipped 62.74 points to 11,882.43, the FBM Mid 70 Index lost 58.94 points to 13,829.38 and the FBM Ace Index slid 73.16 points to 4,700.31.

Losers led gainers 571 to 138, while 208 counters were unchanged, 675 untraded and 15 others suspended.

Volume stood at 696.67 million shares worth RM686.25 million.

Among actives, Luster Industries slipped half-a-sen to 19 sen, JCY dipped 22 sen to 68 sen, while Asian Pac and Daya Materials eased 1.5 sen each to 13 sen and 23.5 sen respectively.

Malaysian AE improved 7.5 sen to 23 sen.

For the heavyweights, Maybank lost four sen to RM10.22, Axiata slipped one sen to RM6.60 and Petronas Chemicals shed nine sen to RM6.57.

CIMB and Axiata were unchanged at RM8.20 and RM9.40. – Bernama