KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia remained under pressure at mid-day today, with Petronas-linked stocks leading the top losers counter.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,645.13, down 12.48 points, after moving between 1,644.54 and 1,657.89 throughout the morning session.
Market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers 555 to 274, with 273 counters unchanged, 620 untraded and 12 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 1.003 billion shares worth RM757.819 million.
Leading the top losers counter were Petronas Gas (-40 sen to RM21.42) and Petronas Chemicals (-22 sen to RM7.33), while the top gainers were British American Tobacco (+84 sen to RM54.94) and Petron (+44 sen to RM6.62).
Of the heavyweights, Maybank was flat at RM8.34, TNB lost 14 sen to RM12.98, Public Bank declined 8.0 sen to RM18.20 and Axiata eased 3.0 sen to RM6.23.
Among actives, AWC added 2.5 sen to 45 sen, DPS Resources remained unchanged at 13.5 sen and Tiger Synergy inched up half-a-sen to 9.5 sen.
On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index went down 85.2 points to 11,538.08, the FBMT100 Index decreased 85.26 points to 11,204.71 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 109.84 points at 12,514.54.
The FBM 70 slid 100.18 points to 13,029.44 and the FBM Ace was lower by 35.41 points to 6,287.96.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Index lost 29.51 points to 3,173.72, the Finance Index contracted 70.97 points for 13,847.62 and the Plantation Index was 47.58 points lower at 7,578.61.
On the technical front, AllianceDBS Research said the movement of the FBM KLCI signaled that many market participants are beginning to feel jittery over its performance.
However, losses were capped with market players unwilling to sell heavily.
“An analysis of the overall market action revealed that buying power was stronger than selling pressure and as such, the FBM KLCI will likely trade above the 1,664.53 level today,” it said in a note. — Bernama
