KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — Bursa Malaysia was lower at mid-morning today as investors turned cautious ahead of the much-anticipated Federal Reserve (Fed) policy meeting, a dealer said.

At 11 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.31 of-a-point to 1,721.61 from yesterday’s close of 1,721.92.

The index opened 0.53 of-a-point better at 1,722.45. 

The dealer said the local bourse and most of its Asian peers would move slowly especially during this two-day policy meeting, which the Fed was expected to provide a clearer view for the US economy for this year.

“The Fed is expected to increase its interest rate as one of the measures to boost the US economy, and this is seen to have an effect to weaken the other stock markets as more interest will be shifting to the US stock market,” he said.

Market breadth was negative with decliners outpacing gainers by 396 to 307, while 371 counters were unchanged, 646 untraded and 23 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.73 billion shares worth RM872.59 million.

Of the heavyweights, Tenaga fell two sen to RM13.76 and Sime Darby eased three sen to RM9.10.

Maybank rose three sen to RM8.83. Public Bank was flat at RM19.86.

Among actives, Borneo Oil and Luster Indsutries added one sen each to 18 sen and 10 sen, respectively.

Priceworth eased one sen to 19 sen. Frontken was flat at 25 sen.

The FBM Emas Index fell 4.22 points to 12,166.03, FBMT100 Index inched down 3.42 points to 11,828.89 and the FBM 70 was 7.42 points lower at 14,146.96.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 14.73 points to 12,572.47. The FBM Ace rose 27.87 points to 5,348.02.

On a sectoral basis, the Finance Index surged 17.57 points to 15,467.50 and the Plantation Index gained 20.01 points to 8,135.99.

The Industrial Index was down by 6.97 points to 3,239.85.

Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd today issued an Unusual Market Activity query to Pan Malaysia Holdings Bhd following sharp rise in its share price and volume recently.

The query was posted on Bursa Malaysia’s website www.bursamalaysia.com, under the “Listing Circular” classification, it said in a statement.

Investors are advised to take note of the company’s reply to the query which would be posted on Bursa Malaysia’s website under company announcements, http://announcements.bursamalaysia.com when making investment decisions, it said. — Bernama