KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 21 — Bursa Malaysia remained lower across the board at midday today in line with most of its regional peers, following the slump on Wall Street amidst the ongoing tension between Ukraine and Russia, a dealer said.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 16.82 points to 1,586.23 from 1,603.05 at Friday’s close.

The index opened 1.39 points lower at 1,601.66 and moved between 1,584.41 and 1,603.38 throughout the morning trading session.

The overall market breadth was negative with decliners outnumbering advancers 641 to 309, while 360 counters were unchanged, 928 untraded and nine others suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.30 billion units worth RM1.46 billion.

In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the local technology counters were likely to continue underperforming in the broader market, in line with the negative sentiment on Wall Street.

"Investors may turn to commodities-related or consumer stocks over the near term as commodity prices remains elevated at this juncture,” it said.

It added that the recent resurgence of Covid-19 cases in the country and the rising number of hospital admissions may boost trading activities within the vaccine and glove-related players.

Meanwhile, Bursa heavyweights Inari Amertron lost 10 sen to RM3.10, Public Bank fell two sen to RM4.37, Sime Darby Plantation shed 28 sen to RM4.62 and Press Metal gave up 41 sen to RM6.57, while Maybank inched up 12 sen to RM8.78.

As for the actives, Ta Win, KNM and AT Systematization added half-a-sen to 19 sen, 18.5 sen and three sen, respectively, while SMTrack increased one sen to 25 sen.

On the index board, FBM ACE contracted 97.23 points to 6,197.53, FBM 70 reduced 70.92 points to 13,673.82, FBM Emas Index was 102.09 points weaker at 11,349.42, FBMT 100 Index gave up 103.70 points to 11,021.45, while FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 165.93 points to 12,044.78.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gained 9.83 points to 16,410.51, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 3.57 points lower at 208.06, while the Plantation Index weakened 280.38 points to 7,839.85. — Bernama