KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 — Bursa Malaysia sank into a sea of red at mid-day as investors continued to dump their shares, especially healthcare stocks amidst a lack of fresh catalysts.

Healthcare counters, namely Top Glove and Hartalega suffered the most among the top 30 index-linked counters.

At lunch break, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) lost 15.23 points, or one per cent, to 1,501.15 from yesterday's close of 1,515.38.

The key index gained 2.21 points to 1,518.50 at the opening and hovered between 1,498.07 and 1,519.32 throughout the morning session.

Market breadth was negative with losers thumbing gainers 866 to 195, while 340 counters were unchanged, 622 untraded and 23 others suspended.

Trading volume stood at 5.70 billion shares worth RM2.44 billion.

The Healthcare Index saw the biggest fall by losing 158.43 points to 3,585.31.

The Financial Services Index contracted 66.75 points to 12,588.54, the Plantation Index shrank 38.95 points to 7,050.59 and the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 1.29 points to 135.48.

In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the lack of fresh leads kept investors at bay, as the recent batch of corporate earnings offered little direction on the prospects of a swift economic recovery.

"For now, we reckon that a consolidation on the local bourse remains on course over the foreseeable future.

"At the same time, the negative market sentiment is deterring the sustainability of the buoyant trading momentum, as traders brace themselves towards the impending end of the blanket loan moratorium,” it said.

Among the heavyweights, Top Glove lost 41 sen to RM7.87, Hartalega fell five sen to RM13.50, Petronas Gas retreated 12 sen to RM16.62, while Petronas Chemicals and Maxis dropped six sen each to RM5.52 and RM5.04, respectively.

Supermax warrants continued to dominated the top losers list, while Supermax, also among the top losers, erased 66 sen to RM8.34.

Other top decliners included Kossan, giving up 88 sen to RM12.82, Nestle, dipping RM1.80 to RM139.20, KLK, reducing 42 sen to RM22.58, and Greatech trimming 32 sen to RM6.23.

Of the actives, Fintec slid two sen to 11.5 sen, XOX dwindled half-a-sen to 22.5 sen, while Evergreen rose 8.5 sen to 34.5 sen, Nova MSC went up one sen to 12 sen, and Pegasus Heights was unchanged at three sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index tanked 131.65 points to 10,815.97 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index weakened 188.29 points to 12,765.92.

The FBM 70 dipped 253.56 points to 14,039.73, the FBMT 100 Index was 129.04 points lower at 10,624.22 and the FBM ACE sank 233.06 points to 10,440.96. — Bernama