KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 26 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session in negative territory in line with most regional peers, and alongside cautious sentiment due to the lack of fresh leads, dealers said.
At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) edged down 4.07 points to 1,756.17 after opening 1.73 points lower at 1,758.51 from last Friday’s close of 1,760.24.
Market breadth was negative with 401 losers against 304 gainers, while 347 counters were unchanged, 802 untraded and 34 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.16 billion shares worth RM629.80 million.
A dealer said the regional stock markets were mostly lower in thin holiday trade on Tuesday as investors continued to stay on the sidelines, amid a lack of fresh catalysts post Christmas, while crude oil prices edged higher in Asian trades.
Among heavyweights, Maybank slipped one sen to RM9.47, while TNB, Public Bank and Petronas Chemicals were flat at RM14.98, RM20.70 and RM7.60 respectively.
Of the actives, NETX eased half-a-sen to four sen, Hibiscus Petroleum rose 4.5 sen to 85.5 sen, Sapura Energy gained 1.5 sen to 72.5 sen, while Diversified Gateway was flat at 12 sen.
The FBM Emas Index was down 23.97 points to 12,637.78, the FBMT 100 Index declined 26.20 points to 12,308.07 and the FBM Ace was 47.32 points lower at 6,418.18.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 23.22 points to 12,987.65 and the FBM 70 decreased 25.30 points to 15,625.14.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index gained 8.65 points to 16,603.48, but the Industrial Index eased 0.97 of-a-point to 3,191.56 and the Plantation Index shed 0.70 of-a-point to 7,899.70. ― Bernama
