KUALA LUMPUR, April 27 ― Bursa Malaysia stayed in negative territory at mid-morning on profit taking following yesterday's gains, amidst mixed regional market.

At 11.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 5.62 points to 1,591.06 from yesterday’s close of 1,596.68.

The index opened 5.03 points weaker at 1,591.65.

On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 596 to 216 while 346 counters were unchanged, 1,133 untraded and 43 others suspended.

Total turnover stood at 885.04 million units worth RM579.81 million.

In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said it anticipates a further downside risk on the local bourse following the steep slide on Wall Street overnight, especially within the technology sector.

"Meanwhile, investors may position themselves in companies with solid earnings prospects ahead of the earnings season,” the brokerage said.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank added six sen to RM9.01, Public Bank gained two sen to RM4.74, while Petronas Chemicals lost 22 sen to RM10, IHH Healthcare slid one sen to RM6.64, and CIMB dropped four sen to RM5.15.

Of the actives, Dagang Nexchange eased one sen to RM1.01, Widad, Techna-X and Cheetah were flat at 36 sen, 11 sen and 17.5 sen, respectively, while Permaju increased half-a-sen to nine sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 50.02 points weaker at 11,371.10, the FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 87.0 points to 11,907.36, the FBM 70 dropped 75.97 points to 13,572.14, the FBMT 100 Index dipped 44.24 points to 11,032.89, and the FBM ACE lost 98.40 points to 5,520.01.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index declined 2.76 points to 207.37, the Plantation Index went down 78.22 points to 8,710.24, while the Financial Services Index accumulated 16.28 points to 16,850.78. ― Bernama