KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 10 — Bursa Malaysia remained in the red after the lunch break as it continued to be dragged down by several key index counters including Petronas-linked and telecommunication-related stocks. 

At 3.05pm, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was down 5.58 points to 1,590.07 compared with yesterday’s close of 1,595.65.

Petronas-related counters have come under pressure since early today due to investors’ concern over its operations in Iraq following heightened tension in the country after Iran fired more than a dozen missiles at US military bases in the country.

The missiles strike at bases in Anbar and Irbil, Iraq came amid soaring tension in the region, triggered by a deadly US drone strike on Iran’s top military commander, General Qassem Soleimani last Friday.

 At present, there are 163 Malaysian citizens in Iraq, made up of mostly Petronas’ staff as well as lecturers while 73 people have registered with Malawakil (Office of the Malaysian Delegation) in Teheran.

Wisma Putra had issued a travel advisory advising Malaysians in Iran and Iraq as well as others who are planning to travel the oil-rich countries to take safety precautions.

Petronas-linked counters, namely, Petronas Gas slid 24 sen to RM16.76, Petronas Chemicals declined nine sen to RM7.22, while Petronas Dagangan slipped 30 sen to RM22.46. 

Other heavyweights; Axiata was down nine sen to RM4.16 and Digi decreased five sen to RM4.53.   

Of the actives, DGB was one sen higher at 15 sen, Sapura Energy was flat at 28 sen, while Mudajaya rose 6.5 sen to 46 sen, while for top gainers, Malaysian Pacific added 42 sen to RM12.20, KESM increased 54 sen RM9.90 while United Plantation gained 60 sen to RM26.70. 

  On the index board, the FBM Emas Index went down 32.08 points to 11,329.83 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 48.60 points lower at 11,941.04. 

The FBMT 100 Index lost 33.61 points to 11,124.09, the FBM 70 slipped 20.70 points to 14,220.67 while the FBM Ace dipped 5.66 points to 5,495.01.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index declined slightly by 0.69 points to 153.17, while the Financial Services Index contracted 12.37 points to 15,547.47 and the Plantation Index contracted 9.70 points to 7,676.59. — Bernama