KUALA LUMPUR, July 2 — Bursa Malaysia remained lower at midday on lack of catalysts.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell by 5.70 points to 1,527.65 from Friday’s close of 1,533.35.

The market bellwether opened 0.69 of-a-point higher at 1,534.04 and moved between 1,530.42 and 1,536.00 during the morning session.

On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 490 to 437, while 360 counters were unchanged, 886 untraded, and nine others suspended.

Turnover stood at 3.43 billion units valued at RM1.71 billion.

Rakuten Trade said the FBM KLCI continued to remain lacklustre amid the cautious sentiment.

"For today, we reckon the index’s performance would stay muted in the absence of clear buying catalysts and expect it to be stuck within the 1,530-1,540 range seen since end-June,” it added.

Among the heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals rose three sen to RM8.10, TNB gained one sen to RM9.74, Maybank was flat at RM8.11, Public Bank shed two sen to RM4.09, IHH Healthcare declined three sen to RM5.58, CIMB eased two sen to RM4.62 and Hong Leong Bank lost 12 sen to RM18.70.

Of the actives, Serba Dinamik jumped 10 sen to 48.5 sen, Kumpulan Jetson advanced 5.5 sen to 42 sen, Pasukhas added one sen to 29.5 sen, Sarawak Consolidated gained 3.5 sen to 84.5 sen, and Metronic was flat at 7.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gave up 36.62 points to 11,124.29, the FBMT 100 Index fell 38.86 points to 10,834.56, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 36.27 points to 12,139.84, the FBM ACE jumped 41.50 points to 7,252.71, and the FBM 70 was 45.50 points weaker at 14,404.78.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index was down 60.12 points to 15,067.33, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.52 of-a-point higher at 187.45, and the Plantation Index trimmed 60.66 points to 6,355.16. — Bernama