KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 2 ― Bursa Malaysia remained in the negative territory at mid-afternoon, driven by continued profit taking in selected heavyweights amid the mixed performance seen in regional markets, dealers said.

At 3pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined by 1.48 points to 1,585.41, from yesterday’s close of 1,586.89.

The index, which opened 1.42 points better at 1,588.31, finished the morning trading session lower at 1,583.05.

In the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 560 to 384, while 455 counters were unchanged, 819 untraded and six others suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.81 billion units worth RM1.75 billion.

A dealer said that regionally, investors remained on the sidelines due to concerns over China’s lower-than-expected economic data and the latest jump in Covid-19 numbers.

Back home, heavyweights Maybank and Petronas Chemicals slipped one sen each to RM8.29 and RM8.28, respectively, and Public Bank was flat at RM4.08, while Tenaga Nasional rose two sen to RM10.36 and IHH Healthcare gained five sen to RM6.38.

Among the actives, Ho Wah Genting improved 4.5 sen to 34.5 sen and TFP Solutions added one sen to 23 sen, while Bintai Kinden shed 2.5 sen to 54 sen and TA Win eased half-a-sen to 16.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 11.56 points to 11,549.78, the FBMT 100 Index went down 8.24 points to 11,256.80, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 19.29 points to 12,679.80.

The FBM 70 contracted 1.96 points to 15,015.49, while the FBM ACE dipped 22.63 points to 7,193.39.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index lost 11.45 points to 6,746.14 and the Industrial Products and Services Index fell 1.17 points to 198.40, but the Financial Services Index rose 19.24 points to 15,415.78. ― Bernama