KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 — Bursa Malaysia continued to be in the red when the market resumed at mid-afternoon today, driven by foreign outflow in lower liners.

As at 3pm, the main index FBM KLCI eased by 8.37 points to 1,644.12 compared with Friday’s close of 1,652.49.

The index had opened 3.64 points lower at 1,648.85.

The overall market breadth was negative as losers overtook gainers 728 to 426, while 434 counters were unchanged, 551 untraded and 19 others suspended.

Volume stood at 5.10 billion units worth RM2.25 billion.

So far, the outflow had mainly affected the lower liners which continued to track regional and global equity performance.

Heightened concerns over rising global Covid-19 cases continued to impact the economy, while the government continued to struggle in balancing between health and economic needs.

Meanwhile, heavyweights Petronas Chemicals shed eight sen to RM7.50, Tenaga Nasional shed 12 sen to RM10.66, Petronas Dagangan declined 24 sen to RM21.00, while Top Glove declined two sen to RM6.62.

Of the actives, Supermax added seven sen to RM6.91, Vivocom added 18 sen to 88.5 sen and Widad rose 6.5 sen to 74.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 56.62 points lower at 11,833.80, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 33.47 points to 11,653,4, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 69.41 points to 13,265.0, the FBM 70 dropped 20.75 points to 15,197.85, while the FBM ACE dipped 31.19 points to 10,416.4.

Additionally, the Industrial Products and Services Index dipped 0.58 of-a-point to 175.11, the Plantation Index slid 13.25 points to 7,336.5, and the Financial Services Index eased 38.36 points to 15,386.6. — Bernama