KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 — Bursa Malaysia stayed in the red at mid-morning as the key index was pulled down by selling in rubber glove and banking heavyweights.

At 11.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 0.38 of-a-point to 1,584.55 from 1,584.93 at last Friday’s close.

The key index opened 2.58 points higher at 1,587.51.

Market breadth remained positive, with gainers leading losers 575 to 500, while 392 counters were unchanged, 729 untraded and nine others suspended.

Total volume stood at 6.2 billion units worth RM2.25 billion.

Among the 30 FBM KLCI constituents, rubber glove counters Top Glove emerged as the top loser by erasing 20 sen to RM5.85, followed by Supermax which lost 28 sen to RM5.52, while Hartalega was eight sen lower at RM11.98.

Maybank eased four sen to RM7.99 while Public Bank was two sen weaker at RM4.11.

Of the actives, Key Alliance gained half-a-sen to six sen, AT Systematization added two sen to 16 sen, Nexgram bagged 1.5 sen to 5.5 sen, Mestron was 3.5 sen firmer at 27 sen while Dagang Nexchange accumulated 5.5 sen to 74.5 sen.

Top loser Tasco lost 79 sen to RM4.36, while top gainer Heineken increased 66 sen to RM24.16.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index leapt 11.51 points to 11,653.12, the FBMT 100 Index gained 9.32 points to 11,329.66 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 5.64 points higher at 13,124.73.

The FBM 70 strengthened 58.91 points to 15,418.26 and the FBM ACE jumped 169.75 points to 11,418.37.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index contracted 35.05 points to 14,837.73, the Plantation Index dwindled 6.70 points to 7,182.35 and the Healthcare Index fell 39.33 points to 3,412.21.

Meanwhile, the Industrial Products and Services Index ticked up 0.99 of-a-point to 183.26. — Bernama