KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session in the red on profit taking after four consecutive days of gains.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 11.09 points to 1,628.74 from yesterday’s close of 1,639.83.

The key index opened 3.10 points easier at 1,636.73, and moved between 1,628.53 and 1,636.73   throughout the session.

However, market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing losers 612 to 415 while 475 counters were unchanged, 701 untraded and 17 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 5.73 billion units worth RM2.77 billion.

Regionally, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.60 per cent to 29,371.23, Japan’s Nikkei was 0.34 per cent better at 29,135.55, Singapore’s Straits Times Index increased 0.87 per cent to 3,106.40 and South Korea’s Kospi advanced 1.98 per cent to 3,016.70.

A dealer said Bursa Malaysia was traded lower throughout the morning session, bucking the firmer trend seen in regional markets which took a cue from Wall Street’s overnight rally.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high on Wednesday, boosted by the easing US bond yields coupled with a new stimulus package.

"This was also following the news of weaker-than-expected United States’ (US) consumer price index in February that increased by 0.4 per cent, which helped ease inflation concerns,” he added.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank added four sen to RM8.58, Public Bank gained two sen to RM4.34 and Tenaga rose eight sen to RM10.80.

Petronas Chemicals shed two sen at RM8.15 while IHH Healthcare was flat at RM5.29.

Of the actives, AirAsia X improved one sen at 10.5 sen and Zelan added two sen at 13.0 sen, while Saudee eased 2.5 sen to 75.5 sen, Widad slid one sen to 47.5 sen, and Vizione was flat at 31.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 34.69 points to 11,917.75, the FBMT 100 Index declined 48.57 points to 11,602.03 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 16.92 points lower at 13,164.11.

The FBM ACE rose 45.39 points to 10,397.81 and the FBM 70 increased 53.03 points to 15,621.18.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 109.80 points to 15,725.74 and the Plantation Index erased 29.15 points to 7,152.98, but the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.05 of-a-point to 190.15. ― Bernama