KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 9 ― Bursa Malaysia was mostly lower at  mid-morning today as the market narrowed its losses in the earlier morning session, dealers said.

At 11.36 am, the  benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 3.53 points to 1,640.22 from 1,643.75 yesteday after opening 1.90 points lower at 1,641.85.

Dealers said investors remained cautious amid news that the European Central Bank would scale down quantitative easing.

On the broader market, gainers led losers 291 to 249, while 306 counters remained unchanged, with 854 untraded and 24 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 566.37 million shares worth RM374.07 million.     

The FBM Emas Index lost 12.51 points to 11,471.70, the FBMT100 Index reduced 17.57 points to 11,206.04 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 14.69 points to 12,013.42.

The FBM 70 gained 3.19 points to 13,157.45 but the FBM Ace trimmed 43.07 points to 4,697.90.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index was 13.73 points lower at 7,729.16, the Industrial Index fell 0.30 point to 3,097.26 but the Finance Index gained 5.97 points to 14,359.85.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank rose one sen to RM7.91, Tenaga Nasional was unchanged at RM14, Public Bank slipped two sen at RM19.60 and Petronas Chemicals eased one sen to RM6.89.

Of the actives, APFT Bhd remained unchanged at 3.5 sen, Asia Bioenergy Tech slipped half-a-sen to 5.5 sen, RGB International lost half-a-sen to 25.5 sen and Hibiscus Petroleum was unchanged at 30.5 sen. ― Bernama