KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 ― Bursa Malaysia remained lower at mid-afternoon, driven by continuous profit-taking in selected heavyweights amidst mixed sentiments in regional markets, a dealer said.

At 3pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 16.67 points to 1,537.89 from yesterday's close of 1,554.56.

The FBM KLCI opened 11.05 points weaker at 1,543.51.

On the broader market, decliners led gainers 513 to 428, while 477 counters were unchanged, 896 untraded, and 12 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 2.79 billion units worth RM1.51 billion.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose 3.0 sen to RM9.55, Tenaga Nasional advanced 6.0 sen to RM11.54, Public Bank was flat at RM4.21, CIMB slipped 3.0 sen to RM6.69, and Petronas Chemicals fell 5.0 sen to RM6.87.

As for the actives, Hong Seng Consolidated, Pan Malaysia and Malayan United earned half-a-sen each to 2.0 sen, 23 sen and 6.5 sen, respectively, while Microlink added 4.0 sen to 41 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 79.24 points weaker at 11,432.20, the FBMT 100 Index dipped 84.76 points to 11,096.93, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 32.10 points to 11,499.29, the FBM ACE Index shed 18.08 points to 4,703.93, while the FBM 70 Index bagged 27.96 points to 15,510.85.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index tumbled 267.41 points to 17,175.61, the Plantation Index declined 39.76 points to 7,316.84 and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.18 of-a-point to 175.81. The Energy Index improved by 3.62 points to 900.66. ― Bernama