KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 ― Bursa Malaysia remained lower across-the-board at mid-day following the pullback in oil prices after gaining seven per cent over the last two days, dealers said.

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,665.19, down 4.45 points from yesterday's close of 1,669.64.

After opening 2.41 points lower at 1,667.23 this morning, the index moved between 1,663.76 and 1,669.85 throughout the morning session.

Losers led gainers 446 to 206 with 362 counters unchanged, 690 untraded and 61 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 879.29 million shares worth RM650.54 million.

A dealer said the local exchange and most of its Asian peers were traded lower on Friday due to the decline in oil prices.

“The commodity's prices dropped on profit-taking activities by investors after improving about seven per cent in the past two trading sessions.

“On top of that, investors are also sceptical on whether the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) decision to cut production will really make a big change in output,” the dealer said.

It was reported that London Brent crude for November delivery LCOc1 dropped eight cents at US$49.16 a barrel.

It settled 55 cents higher yesterday, or 1.1 per cent, adding to a 5.9 per cent gain in the previous session.

On Wednesday, the OPEC members had concluded to cut production to 32.5-33.0 million barrels per day (bpd) from around 33.5 million bpd.

SapuraKencana shares were flat at RM1.57, Bumi Armada eased two sen at 70 sen, Petronas Gas declined four sen to RM21.84, while Petronas Chemicals was two sen higher at RM6.71.

Among heavyweights, Tenaga and Public Bank were flat at RM14.36 and RM19.88, respectively, Maybank increased one sen to RM7.63 and Hong Leong was two sen better at RM13.12.

As for actives, Hiap Teck was down two sen to 33.5 sen, Lion Corp eased 2.5 sen to one sen, Sumatec was flat at 8.5 sen, while Netx gained half-a-sen to 2.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Index fell 32.96 points to 11,777.00, the FBMT100 Index decreased 31.74 points to 11,477.55 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 26.90 points lower at 12,430.11.

The FBM 70 gave up 42.15 points to 13,843.34 and the FBM Ace erased 17.91 points to 5,245.00.

On a sectoral basis, the Industrial Index dropped 19.40 points to 3,120.93, the Plantation Index inched down 7.71 points to 7,951.18 and the Finance Index was 48.53 points lower at 14,302.26. ― Bernama