KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 ― As news on the current political landscape became the talk of the town, shares of government-linked companies (GLCs) have declined sharply since the market opened this morning.

As at 11.01am, Maybank led the loss, declining 15 sen to RM8.26, while Tenaga Nasional slid 20 sen to RM12.58 and CIMB reduced 11 sen to RM4.89.

Petronas-linked stocks such as Petronas Chemicals shed 11 sen to RM6.34 and Petronas Dagangan weakened 16 sen to RM21.84, while MISC lost 28 sen to RM7.41 and telecommunication stock Axiata erased 10 sen to RM4.15.

Public Bank was the biggest loser after shedding 58 sen to RM17.56.

The decline in these stocks had collectively dragged the composite index down by 15 points, with total traded volume recorded at 32.43 million.

Meanwhile, consumer products recorded the biggest loss, with Dutchlady declining RM1.06 to RM44.72, Heineken dropping RM2.22 to RM28.82 and Carlsberg erasing RM3.04 to RM35.90.

As for the actives, MyEG continued its downtrend, losing half-a-sen to RM1.25, while Alam Maritim and Mtouche technology both inched down one sen to 13 sen and 16.5 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 234.29 points to 10,731.32, the FBMT 100 Index declined 222.16 points to 10,524.95 and FBM Ace shed 74.57 points to 5,672.35.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index gave up 230.84 points to 11,426.42 and FBM 70 dipped 362.55 points to 13,519.24.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 2.66 points to 143.13,  the Financial Services Index shed 295.34 points to 14,400.58 and the Plantation Index weakened 193.32 points to 6,941.33. ― Bernama