KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 ― Shares on Bursa Malaysia remained in the red at mid-morning today, weighing on the US geopolitical tensions which hindered dealing momentum, dealers said.

At 11.02am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 2.28 points easier at 1,842.99 from 1,845.27 yesterday's close.

The key index opened 1.79 points weaker at 1,843.48 this morning.

Market breadth was negative, as losers overtook gainers 373 to 277, while 367 counters remained unchanged, 877 untraded and 31 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 944.78 million shares worth RM519.79 million.

Among heavyweights, Maybank eased 10 sen to RM10.26, CIMB and Petronas Chemicals trimmed one sen each to RM7.21 and RM8.14, respectively.

Meanwhile, Public Bank and Tenaga were flat at RM23.00 and RM15.66, respectively.

Of the actively-traded stocks, Nexgram, Sumatec Resources and UMW Oil & Gas Corp inched down half-a-sen each to 4.5 sen, 6.5 sen and 31.5 sen, respectively.

Meanwhile, Sapura Energy and QES Group rose one sen each to 50 sen and 21.5 sen, respectively.

The FBM Emas Index decreased 6.9 points to 13,018.4, the FBMT 100 Index was 6.87 points easier at 12,764.47, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 9.97 points to 13,196.54.

The FBM 70 was 21.95 points lower at 15,692.11 and the FBM Ace decreased 38.01 points to 5,858.00.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index declined 51.04 points to 17,965.81, the Industrial Index trimmed 7.78 points to 3,240.25 and the Plantation Index eased 51.05 points to 7,987.6. ― Bernama