KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 ― Bursa Malaysia extended its downward trend to mid-afternoon today, dragged by losses in selected heavyweights led by Petronas Gas.

At 3.05pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 2.24 points easier at 1,687.81 from yesterday's close of 1,690.05.

At the opening, the index was down 1.40 points at 1,688.65.

However, market breadth stayed positive with gainers outpacing losers 398 to 345, while 373 counters were unchanged, 724 untraded and 22 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.03 billion units worth RM1.02 billion. 

Among the heavyweights, Petronas Gas lost 18 sen to RM17.36, CIMB fell three sen to RM5.33, Sime Darby was four sen lower at RM4.83, IHH trimmed two sen to RM5.85 and Hong Leong Bank erased eight sen to RM19.02.

Of the actives, Sumatec retreated half-a-sen to three sen, KNM, XOX and Pegasus Heights perked half-a-sen each to 30 sen, 5.5 sen and one sen, and Malayan Flour was 4.5 sen higher at 73.5 sen.

Nestle topped the losers list, erasing 50 sen to RM148.30, followed by Aeon Credit which declined 24 sen to RM16.56. Shangri-La shed 10 sen to RM4.45, MPI fell nine sen to RM9.61, and BIMB was seven sen weaker at RM4.51.

The FBM 70 shrank 0.88 of-a-point to 14,866.64 and the FBMT 100 Index eased 12.06 points to 11,765.15 but the FBM Ace increased 38.98 points to 4,622.62.

The FBM Emas Index slipped 9.03 points to 11,926.04 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 7.43 points lower at 12,318.57.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index contracted 37.57 points to 16,773.39, the Industrial Products & Services Index inched down 0.01 of-a-point to 162.27 and the Plantation Index slid 6.67 points to 6,945.86. ― Bernama