KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 21 — Bursa Malaysia remained in the negative territory at mid-morning, as the weak market sentiment continued to weigh on risk appetites, dealer said.

At 11am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell by 13.47 points to 1,589.58 from 1,603.05 at Friday’s close.

The index opened 1.39 points lower at 1,601.66.

Market breadth was negative with losers leading gainers 550 to 308, while 356 counters were unchanged, 1,024 untraded and nine others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.67 billion units worth RM954.82 billion.

Bursa heavyweights Maybank improved 12 sen to RM8.78 and Petronas Chemicals added eight sen to RM9.29, while Public Bank slipped one sen to RM4.38, IHH Healthcare was weaker by 19 sen to RM6.36 and CIMB shed five sen to RM5.55.

As for the actives, Ta Win and KNM were unchanged at 18.5 sen and 18 sen, respectively, and SMTrack rose half-a-sen to 24.5 sen.

On the index board, FBM ACE erased 38.75 points to 6,256.01, FBM 70 declined 60.47 points to 13,684.27, FBM Emas Index inched down 80.60 points to 11,370.91, FBMT 100 Index was 83.72 points lower at 11,041.43, and FBM Emas Shariah Index dipped 131.74 points to 12,078.97.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index eased 5.60 points to 16,395.08, the Industrial Products and Services Index fell 2.19 points to 209.44, while the Plantation Index declined 183.68 points to 7,936.55. — Bernama