KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 — Bursa Malaysia extended its losses at mid-day on broad-based selling pressure in line with its regional peers, with the key index trending below the 1,580 level.

At lunch break, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was down 9.09 points to 1,573.35, after hovering between 1,562.11 and 1,576.25 throughout the session.

Of the index-linked counters, Sime Darby lost 23 sen to RM7.70, Axiata shed eight sen to RM5.70, Telekom fell 11 sen to RM6.18, AMMB dropped 13 sen to RM4.81 and Public Bank eased 10 sen to RM17.84.

A dealer said Asian stock markets slid further on Thursday as investors remained wary over China’s economic stability in the face of a further slide in Chinese shares, as well as uncertainties over a US interest hike in September.

The further drop in Brent Crude oil prices also weighed down the Asian bourses.

The Shanghai Composite index was 1.52 per cent lower at 3,736.31, Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.25 per cent to 20,171.42, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 1.25 per cent to 22,878.61 and South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.55 per cent to 1,928.65.

On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index fell 54.56 points to 10,799.82, the FBMT100 Index was down 53.26 points to 10,531.45, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index shed 67.82 points to 11,173.84.

The FBM 70 eased 30.39 points for 11,577.10 and the FBM Ace depreciated 29.60 points to 5,238.60.

On a sectoral basis, the Finance Index reduced 50.46 points to 14,199.14, the Industrial Index shed 24.55 points for 3,041.69 and the Plantation Index slid 21.90 points to 6,842.57.

Losers led gainers 459 to 238, while 268 counters remained unchanged, 836 untraded and 19 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 984.92 million shares worth RM813.44 million Among actives, AirAsia shed two sen to RM1.05, AirAsia X fell 1.5 sen to 16.5 sen, Xidelang eased half-a-sen to 17 sen and Frontken was traded flat at 19.5 sen.  — Bernama