KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 ― Bursa Malaysia remained lower at midday due to selling pressure in selected heavyweights mainly in the industrial products and services sectors.

Press Metal Aluminium eased eight sen to RM4.82 and Petronas Chemicals slid six sen to RM6.94. Both stocks pulled the composite index down by a combined 1.87 points.

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) decreased 0.19 per cent, or 2.83 points, to 1,484.03 from yesterday's close of 1,486.86.

The FBM KLCI, which opened 0.29 of-a-point better at 1,487.15, moved between 1,483.41 and 1,492.44 during the morning session.

On the broader market, decliners beat gainers 421 to 339, while 430 counters were unchanged, 1,028 untraded and 29 suspended.

Turnover amounted to 2.27 billion units worth RM1.36 billion.

In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd expects buying interest in the technology sector could be sustained with the recovery on Wall Street.

"We believe overall, the Johor-theme, potential revival in the mega infra projects could provide support towards the construction and property sectors after taking a mild breather.

"We also favour building materials as a proxy towards the previous mentioned sectors, while the consumer segment is likely to head for a decent recovery,” it added.

Among the other heavyweights, Hong Leong slid 12 sen to RM18.78, Maxis was three sen down at RM3.83, while Maybank increased two sen to RM9.02 and Sime Darby Plantation rose three sen to RM4.38.

Of the actives, Hong Seng Consolidated and Leform inched up half-a-sen each to 2.5 sen and 49 sen, Sarawak Consolidated perked by four sen to RM1.12, Minetech Resources lost half-a-sen to 22 sen, while SMTrack was flat at 5.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM ACE Index went up 6.71 points to 5,439.56 and the FBM 70 Index recovered 13.20 points to 15,091.84, while the FBM Emas Index weakened 13.65 points to 11,084.18, the FBMT 100 Index shed 12.81 points to 10,730.94, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index shrank 4.40 points to 11,230.56.

Sector-wise, the Energy Index advanced 8.78 points to 858.96 and the Plantation Index expanded 44.52 points to 7,112.03, however, the Industrial Products and Services Index erased by 1.29 points to 175.17, the Financial Services Index narrowed 7.26 points to 16,540.53, and the Property Index gave up 10.0 points to 886.42. ― Bernama