KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 — Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session at an intraday low due to selling activities in selected heavyweights, while echoing the subdued and mixed regional markets.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell by 17.32 points to 1,609.69 after easing 1.66 points to 1,625.35 at the opening, compared with Friday’s close of 1,627.01.

The index moved between 1,609.69 and 1,625.35 throughout the session.

On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 738 to 363, while 379 counters were unchanged, 616 untraded and 13 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 4.14 billion units worth RM2.21 billion.

Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei decreased 0.83 per cent to 22,282.74, Singapore’s Straits Times Index eased 0.73 per cent to 2,982.95, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index increased 0.62 per cent to 28,750.59. 

Back home, 25 heavyweight counters were in the red, with banking counters Maybank losing 11 sen to RM8.14, CIMB falling 12 sen to RM3.98 and Public Bank contracting 20 sen to RM21.00.

Meanwhile, PetChem shed 18 sen to RM7.33, and KLK was 28 sen lower at RM23.88.

Conversely, Press Metal added one sen to RM8.74 and Axiata was five sen higher at RM3.70.

Of the actives, Lambo Group, PRG Holdings, Pegasus Heights and Key Alliance were flat at three sen, 28.5 sen, 2.5 sen and five sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 88.97 points to 11,617.36, the FBMT 100 Index narrowed 91.7 points to 11,348.83, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 58.41 points to 13,146.28.

The FBM 70 decreased 1.31 points to 14,827.1 while the FBM ACE improved 5.06 points to 10,801.17.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index weakened 203.78 points to 14,827.6, the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 1.02 points to 177.78 and the Plantation Index decreased 59.7 points to 7,305.66.

Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd has issued an Unusual Market Activity (UMA) query to Genetec Technology Bhd today due to the sharp rise in the company’s share prices and volume.

At lunch break, the company’s shares rose six sen to 60 sen with 1.68 million shares traded.

Bursa Malaysia said investors were advised to take note of the company’s reply to the UMA query which would be posted on the bourse’s website under ‘Company Announcements’ when making their investment decisions. — Bernama