KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia were easier at mid-afternoon today, dragged down by profit-taking in selected blue chips.
At 3.15pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.45 of-a-point to 1,790.56 from yesterday’s 1,791.01, after opening 1.33 points lower at 1,789.68.
The movement of the key index was confined to a tight 5.32-point range of between 1,787.33 and 1,792.65 throughout the session.
On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 460 to 318, with 384 counters unchanged, 606 counters untraded and 19 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.60 billion shares worth RM1.32 billion.
Losers in the composite index component stocks were led by Genting Malaysia Bhd, which dipped 11 sen to RM9.84, while among other top weighted heavyweights, Maybank advanced one sen to RM9.59, TNB, Public Bank and Sime Darby added two sen each to RM14.22, RM20.32 and RM9.59 respectively, while CIMB eased two sen to RM6.72.
“There’s currently a lack of fresh leads in Bursa with the market turning slightly jittery with the Middle East freezing out Qatar, curbing investors’ risk appetite.
“And it’s common to see profit-taking after a short rally,” an equity dealer said, adding market uncertainty and short trading week next week had prompted some investors to remain on the sidelines.
On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index edged up 0.10 of-a-point to 12,743.05, the FBMT100 Index added 3.18 points to 12,386.30 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 14.89 points to 12,953.24.
The FBM 70 gained 27.36 points to 15,128.47 but the FBM Ace declined 40.61 points to 6,300.79.
Meanwhile, on a sectoral basis, the Finance Index dipped 6.22 points to 16,856.20, the Industrial Index perked 1.12 points to 3,302.99, while the Plantation Index trimmed 0.49 of-a-point to 7,950.67. — Bernama
