KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCIn(FBM KLCI) opened lower today on profit-taking, dealers said.

At 9.11am, the key index stood at 1,751.34, down 1.97 points, or 0.11 per cent.

Market breadth was negative with decliners outpacing gainers by 128 to 104 while 166 counters were unchanged, 1,341 untraded and 23 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 169.33 million shares worth RM52.48 million.

The FBM Emas Index fell 16.34 points to 12,056.4, FBMT100 Index eased 16.07 points to 11,773.99 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 8.63 points to 12,542.53.

The FBM 70 fell 29.02 points to 13,130.97 and the FBM Ace declined 20.39 points to 6,129.

On a sectoral basis, the Industrial Index fell 2.7 points to 3,163.91, Plantation Index eased 9.29 points to 7,774.34 and the Finance Index eased 35.81 points to 15,491.72.

Of the actives, Sanichi Technology and Sumatec were both flat at 10 sen and 21.5 sen, respectively. Eti Tech Corp rose half-a-sen to seven sen.

In heavyweights, Maybank lost five sen to RM8.74 and Axiata fell a sen at RM7.

Public Bank gained four sen to RM17.68. TNB was flat at RM14.50. — Bernama