KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 ― Bursa Malaysia remained in negative territory at mid-afternoon today on cautious sentiment, with the key index dragged down 0.67 per cent by selling in selected heavyweights led by banking stocks.

At 3pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) weakened 10.81 points to 1,597.47 from 1,608.28 at Monday’s close. The index opened 0.28 of-a-point better at 1,608.56.

Market breadth was negative with decliners leading gainers 546 to 383, while 383 counters were unchanged, 935 untraded, and 18 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.14 billion units worth RM1.98 billion.

Among the heavyweights, Public Bank eased one sen to RM4.44, CIMB shrank 41 sen to RM5.30 and RHB Bank fell six sen to RM5.84, while Maybank gained 20 sen to RM8.96 and Petronas Chemicals added four sen to RM9.59.

As for the actives, SMTrack slid half-a-sen to 23.5 sen, Bumi Armada fell one sen to 46.5 sen and Hibiscus Petroleum stayed at RM1.20.

On the index board, the FBM 70 inched up 85.27 to 13,561.33, the FBM Emas Index reduced 42.27 points to 11,384.51, the FBMT 100 Index contracted 43.45 points to 11,062.41, the FBM ACE lost 25.59 points to 5,862.19, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index dipped 24.34 points to 12,093.25.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index narrowed 18.56 points to 16,506.34 and the Industrial Products and Services Index dropped 1.18 points at 209.70, but the Plantation Index expanded 35.24 points to 8,350.75. ― Bernama