KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 ― Continued selling activities in selected financial services as well as telecommunications and services counters kept Bursa Malaysia in the red at mid-afternoon amidst the mixed performance seen in regional markets, dealers said.

At 3pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined by 5.43 points to 1,595.95, from Monday’s close of 1,601.38.

The index opened 2.05 points better at 1,603.43.

On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 579 to 425, while 393 counters were unchanged, 821 untraded and six others suspended.

Turnover stood at 3.12 billion units worth RM2.05 billion.

A dealer said that Asian stock markets’ performance was mixed on Wednesday as investors remained concerned over the global growth recovery.

Back home, heavyweights Maybank and Tenaga Nasional declined 6.0 sen each to RM8.34 and RM10.40, respectively, Public Bank fell 9.0 sen to RM4.09, IHH Healthcare shed 7.0 sen to RM6.33, while Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM8.30.

Among the actives, Borneo Oil earned half-a-sen to 3.5 sen, Bintai Kinden jumped 9.0 sen to 57 sen, while both Kanger International and KNM Group added 1.0 sen to 5.5 sen and 26.5 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 21.23 points to 11,606.64, the FBMT 100 Index went down 22.42 points to 11,320.49, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 5.35 points to 12,745.11.

The FBM 70 perked 33.31 points to 15,056.77, while the FBM ACE dipped 54.29 points to 7,190.60.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index rose 37.86 points to 6,789.11 and the Industrial Products and Services Index climbed 1.26 points to 199.60, while the Financial Services Index declined 48.46 points to 15,508.81. ― Bernama