KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 ― The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) extended its losses at mid-day on profit-taking as investors looked to square off their positions ahead of the weekend.

The benchmark index was in the red throughout the morning session and ended the lunch break 22.45 points lower at 1,626.53 after moving between 1,645.14 and 1,624.17.

It opened 5.32 points lower at 1,643.66 from Thursday's close of 1,648.98.           

Losers outpaced gainers 573 to 199 while 291 counters were unchanged, 647 untraded and 12 others were suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.027 billion shares worth RM1.13 billion.        

Meanwhile, Bank Negara Malaysia today announced the first quarter Gross Domestic Product for first quarter of 2016 which grew 4.2 per cent against 4.5 per cent registered in the fourth quarter of last year.

It said the slight moderation in growth mainly reflected external shocks to the economy and cautious spending by the private sector.                  

Heavyweights, Maybank eased 36 sen to RM8.46, TNB gained four sen to RM14.00, Public Bank improved eight sen to RM19.08 and IHH Healthcare increased 10 sen to RM6.58.

Among the losers, Petronas Chemicals and CIMB Group each fell 27 sen to RM6.18 and RM4.40, respectively, and Hong Leong Financial Group slipped 26 sen to RM14.86.

Actives, Vivocom declined half-a-sen to 35.5 sen, Bumi Armada shed four sen to 73 sen but AirAsia X recovered one sen to 38.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Index lost 132.69 points to 11,393.98, the FBMT100 Index decreased 132.92 points to 11,081.27 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index dipped 106.49 points to 11,892.62.

The FBM70 decreased 83.30 points to 12,896.27 and the FBM Ace was 36.05 points lower at 5,813.15.

The Finance Index gave up 296.59 points to 14,284.51, the Plantation Index fell 96.57 points to 7,444.59 and the Industrial Index slid 37.02 points to 3,034.85. ― Bernama