KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 ― Bursa Malaysia has reversed its earlier gains at mid-morning today, dragged down by selling in heavyweight stocks.

At 11.00am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 6.85 points to 1,577.39 from yesterday’s close of 1,584.24.

The index opened 4.03 points higher at 1,588.27.

On the broader market, losers beat gainers 544 versus 305, while 453 counters were unchanged, 829 untraded and nine others suspended.

Total volume stood at 2.78 billion shares worth RM1.21 billion.

In a note today, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said bargain hunting activities are expected to continue, albeit in a muted manner.

"Despite the ongoing market consolidation, we believed the benchmark index would test the 1,590 level and beyond today,” it added.

Of the heavyweights, both Maybank and Tenaga shed six sen to RM8.28 and RM10.16, respectively, Public Bank eased one sen to RM4.21, Petronas Chemicals fell four sen to RM7.95  and IHH Healthcare reduced three sen to RM5.30.

Among the active counters, Ace Market debutant Volcano rose 14 sen to 49 sen, Berjaya Corp slid 2.5 sen to 41.5 sen, Dagang Nexchange lost four sen to 82 sen, while Focus Dynamic warrant and Vortex warrant were flat at one sen and half-a-sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 35.78 points lower at 11,719.67, the FBMT 100 decreased 33.99 points to 11,370.58 and the FBM Emas Shariah reduced 27.20 points to 12,992.10.

The FBM 70 rose 11.78 points to 15,830.05 and the FBM ACE improved 2.51 points to 9,710.85.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index went down 73.78 points to 6,957.54, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.90 of-a-point to 193.05 and the Financial Services Index dropped 73.78 points to 15,216.90. ― Bernama