KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 — Bursa Malaysia was lower at lunch break, in line with the regional peers’ performance following the mostly negative cues from global markets overnight.

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell by 5.44 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 1,373.21 from 1,378.65 at yesterdays’s close.

The key index opened 2.86 points lower at 1,375.79 this morning.

The broader market was negative as decliners beat gainers 466 to 250, while 393 counters were unchanged, 1,134 untraded and 21 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.57 billion units worth RM816.69 million.

At the time of writing, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.39 per cent to 19,177.52, the Shanghai Composite Index slid 0.12 per cent to 3,193.96, and the Korea Composite Stock Price Indices (KOSPI) dipped 0.69 per cent to 2,597.48.

Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 1.28 per cent to 31,506.26 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index eased 0.17 per cent to 3,174.14.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said selling activities continued in the local bourse in anticipation of China’s slower economic recovery following its higher-than-expected decline in export data in May 2023.

"Concerns over the global economic recovery, coupled with a few key economic data that will be released next week such as the United States Consumer Price Index may keep investors in a cautious mode,” it said.

Nevertheless, the current level of FBM KLCI is expected to attract bargain-hunting activities from investors as values could be emerging, said the brokerage.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank gained two sen to RM8.60, CIMB added three sen to RM4.93, Petronas Chemicals rose five sen to RM6.46, Public Bank shaved off two sen to RM3.79, and Tenaga Nasional trimmed 15 sen to RM9.12.

Of the active counters, Dagang NeXchange increased one sen to 49 sen, RGB International ticked up 1.5 sen to 27.5 sen, YTL Corp perked up two sen to 92 sen, Star Media eased half-a-sen to 49.5 sen, and Sarawak Consolidated was flat at 27.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shed 41.68 points to 10,120.29, the FBMT 100 Index was 41.26 points lower at 9,820.97, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 79.84 points to 10,449.89, the FBM ACE Index slid 19.79 points to 5,005.91, and FBM 70 Index dwindled 65.81 points to 13,361.96.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.87 of-a-point to 158.02, the Plantation Index slipped 24.06 points to 6,637.98, and the Energy Index lost 4.64 points to 778.58.

However, the Financial Services Index expanded 29.77 points to 15,122.59. — Bernama