KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 6 — Bursa Malaysia continued to stay in the red at mid-morning, tracking the performance of regional markets following the escalating of trade tensions between Washington and Tehran.

At 11.09am, the key index contracted 14.90 points to 1,596.40 from the 1,611.16 at the opening this morning.

Market breadth remained negative, with losers outpacing gainers 523 to 198, while 297 counters remained unchanged, 928 untraded and 33 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 1.31 billion shares worth RM556.80 million.

Among the top 30 companies on the local bourse, Top Glove declined five sen to RM4.62, Tenaga Nasional lost 16 sen to RM13.10, Sime Darby Plantation shed seven sen to RM5.43 and Public Bank dropped 20 sen to RM19.76.

Of the actives, oil and gas counter Hibiscus Petroleum and its warrant both gained 3.5 sen to RM1.03 and 29 sen respectively, while Sapura Energy gained 1.5 sen to 29 sen.

Oil and gas counters have been on a rally since morning following the rise of global oil prices following the volatility in the oil producing Middle Eastern region.

Benchmark Brent Crude was recorded at US$69.93 per barrel at 11.30am today, up nearly seven per cent since the attack on Iraqi soil which killed Iran’s top military commander last Friday morning.

As for top losers, Nestle declined 80 sen to RM146.30, F&N and Hong Leong Financial both shed 54 sen to RM34.04 and RM16.98 while Petronas Gas erased 38 sen to RM16.78.

The FBM Emas Index decreased 95.59 points to 11,379.91, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 109.64 points lower at 11,994.66.

The FBMT 100 Index weakened 95.89 points to 11,171.03, the FBM 70 slid 85.98 points to 14,291.51 while the FBM Ace accumulated 45.46 points to 5,380.61.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index slid 0.66 point to 155.30, the Financial Services Index dipped 122.86 points to 15,572.88 and the Plantation Index weakened 59.58 points to 7,750.62. — Bernama