KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13 — Bursa Malaysia and most of its Asian peers were slightly lower at lunch break today on rising concerns over the decline in global commodity prices, coupled with a possible US interest rates hike next month, dealers said.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 1.77 points to 1,661.43, after moving between 1,651.45 and 1,663.93 throughout the session.

Market breadth was negative with losers edging gainers 511 to 242, with 333 counters unchanged, 747 untraded and 35 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.22 billion shares worth RM972.99 million.

A dealer said investors were cautious following the overnight decline on Wall Street and concerns over the tumble in commodity shares.

“It put pressure on energy and raw-materials providers, while investors braced for the first rise in US interest rate since 2006,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Nertherlands-based ABN AMRO Research said the US Federal Reserve would likely start a slow rate hike cycle in December, resulting in a stronger US dollar versus other emerging currencies.

On the scoreboards, the FBM Emas Index eased 15.27 points to 11,568.61, the FBMT100 Index inched down 12.91 points to 11,259.23 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 12.79 points to 12,481.58.

The FBM Ace edged down 39.56 points to 6,400.16 and the FBM 70 was 18.15 points lower at 12,889.17.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index fell 17.41 points to 14,103.69 and the Industrial Index eased 7.77 points to 3,285.66, while the Plantation Index was 7.06 points better at 7,528.67.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank fell two sen to RM8.34, TNB dipped four sen to RM13.06 and Public Bank rose four sen to RM18.00.

Among the active stocks, Instacom slipped one sen to 21.5 sen and Hibiscus Petroleum eased two sen to 29.5 sen, while Hubline was flat at two sen. — Bernama