KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 ― Bursa Malaysia stays in the red at mid-morning due to losses in key heavyweights.

At 11.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 3.88 points to 1,574.10 from yesterday's close of 1,577.98, after opening 2.71 points weaker at 1,575.27.

Market breadth was negative with losers leading gainers 411 to 202, while 327 counters remained unchanged, 1,045 untraded and 37 others suspended.  

Turnover amounted to 980.58 million shares worth RM574.56 million.

In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the weakness on the FBM KLCI might linger amid potential contraction as investors continue to assess the impact of Bank Negara Malaysia’s move to trim its benchmark interest rates, slumping crude oil prices and the weakness on Wall Street.

"The FBM KLCI may continue to trade in a range-bound mode with downward bias momentum as the 1,570 level will serve as the immediate support, followed by the 1,550 level. A recovery, meanwhile, is expected to be mild with gains capping at the 1,590 level.

"On the broader market, traders may continue to capitalise on the recent positive performance demonstrated by lower liners. At the same time, the healthcare sector continues to demonstrate resilience as the number of casualties from the coronavirus outbreak increased,” it added.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank lost three sen to RM8.52, Public Bank added four sen to RM19.06, Tenaga declined 10 sen to RM12.78 and Petronas Chemicals was one sen lower at RM6.95.

The most active counter was Powerwell Holdings Bhd, which rose two sen to 30.5 sen, while Vortex eased half-a-sen to eight sen and MTouche inched up half-a-sen to 18 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index went down 25.64 points to 11,252.07 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 35.83 points to 11,977.86.

The FBMT 100 Index fell 26.70 points to 11,034.60, the FBM 70 was 32.26 points lower at 14,197.43 and the FBM Ace decreased 13.18 points to 5,624.89.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.41 of-a-point to 152.45, the Financial Services Index lost 11.27 points to 15,103.69 and the Plantation Index was 24.57 points weaker at 7,460.16. ― Bernama