KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 — Bursa Malaysia was still in the negative territory at mid-afternoon today on continued selling in selected blue-chips, led by trade and services and finance stocks, dealers said.
At 3.01pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 1.60 points easier at 1,752.77 after opening 0.93 of-a-point lower at 1,753.44 from Monday's close of 1,754.37.
On the broader market, losers led gainers 439 to 292, with 420 counters unchanged, 693 counters untraded and 19 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.78 billion shares worth RM1.07 billion.
The index-linked stocks that contributed to the loss in the FBM KLCI included Petronas Dagangan and Telekom (both from trade and services sector) and CIMB and Hong Leong Financial (both from finance stocks) with a combined 3.23 points.
The weaker global crude oil price has contributed to the decline in the price of Petronas Dagangan, which lost 68 sen to RM24.32.
Meanwhile, CIMB saw its price dropped by seven sen to RM6.17, following news that Khazanah Nasional Bhd has planned to dispose of its stake in the bank at between RM6.13 and RM6.24.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank were flat at RM9.46 and RM20.46, Tenaga rose four sen to RM14.30 but Sime Darby was one sen weaker at RM9.07.
Among active counters, PUC inched up half-a-sen to 16.5 sen, Palette Multimedia increase three sen to 39.5 sen while both MNC Wireless and NetX Holding were flat at 10 sen and six sen, respectively.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 15.17 points to 12,887.06 and the FBM 70 decreased 34.14 points to 15,309.70. The FBM Ace rose 25.83 points to 7,001.48.
The FBM Emas Index shed 19.41 points to 12,575.08 and the FBMT 100 Index fell 15.22 points to 12,225.37.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index inched down 21.24 points to 7,954.35, Finance Index was 60.66 points lower at 16,420.61 and the Industrial Index lost 11.80 points to 3,217.43. — Bernama
