KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia remained in the red at mid-morning today, weighed down by losses in selected blue chips.

At 11.08am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 13.53 points lower at 1,697.18 from Monday’s close of 1,710.71, after opening 16.14 points lower at 1,694.57 today.

On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 322 to 241, with 296 counters unchanged, 1,021 counters untraded and 31 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 615.19 million shares worth RM383.52 million.

A dealer said buying sentiment in the local market was affected by the losses in Asian markets, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 0.5 per cent to 25,710.53 while the Jakarta Composite Index declined 0.62 per cent to 5,967.91 and South Korea’s KOSPI Composite Index was 0.87 per cent lower at 2,064.50.

Among heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank declined seven sen to RM9.43, Public Bank was 20 sen weaker at RM24.80, Tenaga lost four sen to RM14.82 and Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM9.31.

Among actives, Hibiscus Petroleum eased two sen to RM1.04, Sumatec was unchanged at 2.5 sen and Permaju Industries declined one sen to 37.5 sen

Meanwhile, LEAP Market debutant Topvision Eye Specialist Bhd’s share price stood at 23 sen, a premium of five sen from its issue price of 18 sen, with 130,000 shares traded.

The FBM Emas Index slid 89.86 points to 11,809.1, the FBMT100 Index dipped 88.25 points to 11,651.25 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 81.9 points for 11,872.15.

The FBM Ace fell 27.24 points to 4,947.84, while the FBM 70 reduced 87.86 points to 13,948.92.

The Finance Index diminished 123.98 points to 17,327.37 but the Plantation Index deducted 31.94 points to 7,219.33 and the Industrial Index decreased 0.69 point to 173.32. — Bernama