KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 ― The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) edged down this morning on selective trading as traders remained on the sidelines, a dealer said.

At 9.15am, the key index stood at 1,659.25, down 0.81 point, after opening slightly higher at 1,660.17.

On the broader market, market breadth was slightly positive with gainers outpacing decliners 188 to 175 while 911 counters were unchanged, 564 untraded and 16 others suspended.

“Sentiment remains cautious ahead of the release of the consumer price index and foreign reserves data later today,” said a dealer.

On the scoreboards, the FBM Emas Index eased 1.02 points to 11,568.88, the FBMT100 Index declined 2.69 points to 11,238.72 and the FBM Emas Syariah Index trimmed 3.70 points to 12,503.96.

The FBM 70 added 6.96 points to 12,844.52, the FBM Ace appreciated 16.25 points to 6,939.87, while on a sectorial basis, the Finance Index shed 4.54 points to 14,028.17, the Industrial Index declined 6.75 points to 3,288.18 and the Plantation Index dipped 20.57 points to 7,432.76.

Among heavyweights, Maybank, Tenaga, IHH Healthcare and Axiata were flat at RM8.24, RM13.02, RM6.66 and RM6.16 respectively, while Public Bank eased four points to RM18.00.

Actively traded stocks this morning included Instacom, Globaltec, DBE Gurney, Hibiscus and EA Holdings. ― Bernama