KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 — Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session lower today as investors booked profit from consolidation in bluechips and recent gains on lower liners, dealers said.
At lunch break, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was down by 2.26 of a point to 1,789.95, after opening 2.47 points lower at 1,789.74. The market barometer hovered between 1,786.76 and 1,791.26 in the trading session.
A dealer said bluechips should extend their consolidation, while lower liners might also see investors cashing in on recent gains, following the bearish sentiment in the United States.
He said major indices in the world’s largest economy fell between 1.4 per cent and 1.7 per cent overnight on fears that the Federal Reserve might start scaling back its monetary stimulus programme after a series of positive economic data.
On the scoreboard, the Finance Index lost 28.791 points to 17,065.7 and the Plantation Index fell 25.98 points to 8,320.31. The Industrial Index added 5.15 points to 3,021.68.
The FBM Emas Index declined 16.92 points to 12,488.26, the FBMT100 was down 15.86 points to 12,211.52, and the FBM 70 Index dipped 20.49 points to 14,339.85. The FBM ACE Index gained 46.92 points to 5,459.49.
Losers led gainers 387 to 289, with 292 counters unchanged, 605 untraded and 11 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.3 billion shares worth RM758.57 million.
Among actives, The Media Shoppe added 1 sen to 11.5 sen, Flonic gained 3 sen to 20.5 sen and CSL climbed half-a-sen to 26 sen. Astral Supreme lost 3 sen to 26.5 sen while Daya Materials was unchanged at 33.5 sen.
For the heavyweights, Sime Darby added 2 sen to RM9.50 while CIMB lost 10 sen to RM8.05. Maybank, Axiata and Petronas Chemicals were flat at RM10.48, RM6.90 and RM6.60 respectively. — Bernama
