KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 2 ― Bursa Malaysia extended earlier losses to end the morning session lower, dampened by profit taking, with selling mainly in selected bluechips led by Sime Darby Plantation, dealers said.
At 12.30pm, the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 16.88 points weaker at 1,779.93, after opening 13.71 points lower at 1,783.1 from Friday’s close of 1,796.81.
Sime Darby Plantation dragged the composite index down by 6.071 points. The stock lost 50 sen to RM5.50.
Market breadth was weak with 456 losers against 387 gainers, while 312 counters were unchanged, 655 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.87 billion shares worth RM920.79 million.
A dealer said consolidation in the investor’s holding position during the early part of the year was relatively within expectations, especially with the recent high price of shares.
The FBM KLCI ended 2017 on a year high, rallying on the stabilisation of crude oil prices, a firmer ringgit, positive economic data and higher foreign fund inflows.
It was reported that the net inflow of foreign funds into Malaysia’s equities amounted to RM10.33 billion last year, the highest annual net inflow since 2012.
Among heavyweights, Maybank fell 17 sen to RM9.63, while both Public Bank and CIMB eased four sen each to RM20.74 and RM6.50 respectively.
However, Tenaga rose four sen to RM15.30 and Petronas Chemicals gained eight sen to RM7.78.
Of the actives, PA Resources and Hubline added 1.5 sen each to seven sen and 13.5 sen respectively, while Sino Hua-An increased three sen to 42 sen.
The FBM Emas Index gave up 136.69 points for 12,805.88, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 144.39 points to 12,469.81, the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 149.81 points to 13,153.11 and the FBM 70 dropped 271.24 points to 15,814.3.
However,the FBM Ace gained 11.58 points to 6,615.13.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index fell 108.39 points to 16,752.99, the Industrial Index declined 19.35 points to 3,261.35 and the Plantation Index lost 13.24 points to 7,890.13. ― Bernama
