KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 — Bursa Malaysia stayed mixed at midday today on volatile trading as mild selling activities weighed on market breadth.

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.90 point higher at 1,431.94 compared with Friday’s close of 1,431.04.

The benchmark index opened 1.26 points firmer at 1,432.30 and moved between 1,430.86 and 1,436.11 throughout the morning session.

However, market breadth remained negative with decliners outpacing gainers 397 to 329, while 364 counters were unchanged, 1,151 untraded, and 11 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.56 billion units worth RM694.02 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said despite the strong gains on Wall Street, markets remained cautious about the short-term outlook due to increased market volatility in the region and external uncertainties, particularly the United States debt ceiling issue.

"Hence, we anticipate the benchmark index to trend sideways within the range of 1,425-1,435 today. We advise investors to accumulate blue chips such as banks and telcos for a better defensive strategy,” he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank lost three sen to RM8.72, while Public Bank and CelcomDigi were flat at RM4.01 and RM4.40, respectively.

Petronas Chemicals rose four sen to RM7.10, CIMB added three sen to RM5.16, and Tenaga Nasional was seven sen higher at RM9.05.

Among the most active counters, Vinvest gained one sen to 21 sen, Fitters and Hong Seng were flat at five sen and 12 sen, respectively, Computer Forms fell half-a-sen to 24 sen, and MYEG slid three sen to 78 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 1.74 points to 10,459.99, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 0.35 point to 10,153.48, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 2.45 points to 10,756.28.

The FBM ACE Index was 76.23 points lower at 5,136.77 and the FBM 70 index dipped 28.52 points to 13,453.01.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.60 point to 170.09.

The Energy Index increased 10.45 points to 838.69, the Plantation Index rose 6.0 points to 6,839.79, and the Financial Services Index improved 15.94 points to 15,724.68. — Bernama