KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 ― Bursa Malaysia remained negative at mid-morning today on profit-taking in selected heavyweights, as well as small caps and lower liners, dealers said.
At 11.02am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was at 1,627.14, down 2.45 points against Wednesday's close of 1,629.59, after opening 0.56 of a point lower at 1,629.03.
A dealer said investors lacked domestic catalysts to drive trading.
The FBM Emas Index fell 18.85 points to 11,395.93, the FBMT100 Index declined 17.08 points to 11,117.77 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 12.23 points to 11,974.18.
The FBM 70 declined 21.35 points to 13,059.70 and the FBM Ace eased 46.18 points to 4,763.37.
On a sectoral basis, the Industrial Index rose 0.44 of a point to 3,089.11 and the Plantation Index bagged 5.78 points to 7,717.57.But, the Finance Index shed 19.85 points to 14,248.39.
Market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers 312 to 149, while 280 counters were unchanged, 1,018 untraded and 26 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 352.33 million shares worth RM216.63 million.
Of the heavyweights, TNB and Public Bank fell two sen each to RM13.74 and RM19.72 respectively, Maybank eased six sen to RM7.81, while Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM6.92.
Among actives, Hibiscus Petroleum eased four sen to 36 sen, Iris Corporation went down 1.5 sen to 11.5 sen, Borneo Oil lost half-a-sen to 16 sen, while Malaysia Building Society added two sen to 92 sen. ― Bernama
