KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — Share prices on Bursa Malaysia remained in negative territory at mid-day today weighed down by selected blue chips as local investor sentiment stayed wary.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,622.35, down 6.87 points from yesterday’s close of 1,629.22, after moving between 1,618.32 and 1,628.65 throughout the morning session.

It had opened lower at 1,628.16.

Market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers by a whopping 706 to 141, with 248 counters unchanged, 656 untraded and 12 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 1.24 billion shares worth RM909.93 million.

Kenanga Research said the FBM KLCI continued to trade on a sluggish tone as investors preferred to stay on the sidelines amid the clouded global market outlook.

“We maintain a bearish view on the local bourse this week due to dampened market sentiment, underpinned by the weak ringgit, sliding crude oil prices and bearish China economy,” it said.

Leading the top gainers were Petronas Dagangan and C.I Holdings which each gained eight sen to RM23.80 and RM3.07 respectively, while Ta Ann and Globetronics each increased seven sen to RM5.34 and RM6.11 respectively.

Of the top losers, Latitude lost 25 sen to RM7.70, Kossan Rubber fell 25 sen to RM8.75, Kesm industries declined 24 sen to RM5.40 and Petronas Chemicals reduced 22 sen to RM6.97.

Among heavyweights, Maybank eased four sen to RM8.29, TNB lost two sen to RM12.88, Axiata gained two sen to RM6.15 and Public Bank was unchanged at RM18.18.

Among actives, Nexgram and Instacom eased half-a-sen to six sen and 29 sen respectively, while Borneo Oil lost half-a-sen to 15.5 sen.

On the scoreboards, the FBM Emas Index reduced 66.69 points to 11,350.90, the FBMT100 Index decreased 56.61 points to 11,038.65 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 73.30 points at 12,296.70.

The FBM 70 slipped 101.07 points to 12,797.35 and the FBM Ace erased 159.17 points to 6,025.87. 

Sector-wise, the Industrial Index gave up 3.90 points to 3,132.60, the Finance Index weakened 77.68 points for 13,605.89 and the Plantation Index was 21.24 points lower at 7,498.05. — Bernama