KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 — Bursa Malaysia stayed in the negative territory at mid-afternoon today weighed down by losses in selected blue chips led by Petronas and Hong Leong-related counters.

At 3pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 2.97 points lower at 1,597.56 compared with yesterday’s close of 1,600.53.

It opened 0.87 of-a-point higher at 1,601.4.

On the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 401 to 288, while 369 counters remained unchanged, 920 untraded and 14 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.25 billion units worth RM844.95 million.

Among heavyweights, Petronas Dagangan fell 68 sen to RM21.62, Petronas Gas shed 44 sen to RM15.26, Hong Leong Financial dwindled 48 sen to RM16.50 and Hong Leong Bank lost 28 sen to RM16.70.

As for the actives, Priceworth slipped half-a-sen to 5.5 sen and Greatech lost three sen to RM1.14.

KNM added 3.5 sen to 39 sen while Vsolar and MNC Wireless were flat at 13.5 sen and nine sen respectively.

The FBM Emas Index lost 26.18 points to 11,276.67, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 29.24 points to 11,783.33 and the FBMT 100 Index erased 27.12 points to 11,111.22.

The FBM Ace rose 26.52 points to 4,540.17 but the FBM 70 was 60.88 points lower at 13,936.07.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index fell 59.96 points to 15,565.94 while the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.08 of-a-point lower at 147.25 and the Plantation Index increased 20.69 points to 6,818.77. — Bernama