KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 — Bursa Malaysia remained in the red at mid-afternoon as investors wait for further direction on the sectors to invest in following the better-than-expected second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) announced by Bank Negara Malaysia at noon today. 

At 3.05pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 2.80 points lower at 1,597.49 compared with yesterday’s close of 1,600.29. 

The index opened 2.23 points lower at 1,598.06. 

On Bursa Malaysia, losers trounced gainers 346 to 266, with 397 counters unchanged, 921 untraded and 14 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.17 billion units worth RM756.26 billion. 

An analyst said Malaysia has emerged as the first South-east Asia country to buck the trend to record an increased growth in GDP compared with the previous quarter. 

"This is a good indicator about the health of our economy, which I believe will ensure the investors about the stability of their investment here,” he said. 

As for the performance of heavyweights, Kuala Lumpur Kepong lost six sen to RM23.84, Digi was up two sen to RM5.01, Dialog was one sen weaker to RM3.51, Maxis dropped four sen to RM5.42 and Hup Seng shed three sen to RM9.62. 

Among most active stocks, Datasonic gained one sen to 91.5 sen, while its warrant was up half-a-sen to 43.5 sen, Eduspec and Vsolar both inched up half-a-sen to six sen and 15.5 sen, respectively. 

The FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 20.83 points to 11,828.00, the FBM 70 gave up 31.08 points to 14,070.15, the FBM Emas Index went down 20.50 points to 11,296.98, the FBMT 100 Index was 20.74 points lower at 11,135.68, and the FBM Ace lost 20.98 points to 4,564.63.  

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index gained 0.09 of-a-point to 149.72 and the Plantation Index slipped 66.68 points to 6,736.75. — Bernama