KUALA LUMPUR, June 4 ― Shares on Bursa Malaysia were traded lower accross the board at mid-morning today, dragged down by losses in index-linked counters and key heavyweights due to weak regional sentiment.

At 11.02am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,864.53 points, down 8.02 points from yesterday's close.

Selling in TNB and Public Bank caused the index to cruise lower by 2.74 points, with the shares of both falling by 16 sen and 18 sen respectively to RM11.96 and RM20.88.    

Kenanga Research said it was maintaining the view that the market could be due for a pullback correction fairly soon, and thus pointing to traders selling into strength on any price rally.

The near-term support level of 1,855 points is expected to be retested over the next few days, while the resistance level of 1,882 points would stay strong, it said in a note today.

Another dealer said the lack of fresh leads amid the school holiday had sent some traders away, and the market was awaiting new direction.

On the scoreboard, the Finance Index fell 58.69 points to 17,213.53 points, the Plantation Index lost 57.12 points to 9,161.64 points, and the Industrial Index shed 2.54 points to 3,155.37 points.

The FBM Emas Index was 52.62 points lower at 12,911.02 points, the FBM 70 decreased 58.04 points to 14,094.39 points, the FBMT100 Index declined 53.5 points to 12,558.66 points and the FBM ACE eased 32.05 points to 6,539.56 points.

Losers led gainers 322 to 204, while 307 counters were unchanged, 773 untraded and 18 others suspended.

Volume stood at 332.181 million shares worth RM322.085 million.            

Of the heavyweights, both Maybank and CIMB eased two sen each to RM9.85 and RM7.22 respectively, while Axiata shed one sen to RM6.89.

Among actives, Salcon gained two sen to 80.5 sen, JAKS added 1.5 sen to 60.5 sen, while Tiger Synergy was flat at 14 sen. ― Bernama