KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 ― Bursa Malaysia which was trading in a choppy trend, ended the morning session higher at mid-day today, lifted by some mild buying support from selected finance-linked stocks. 

At 12.30 pm, the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 1.16 points firmer at 1,679.26 from yesterday’s close of 1,678.10.

The index opened 1.14 points higher at 1,679.24 and moved between 1,673.26 and 1,681.54 throughout the morning session.

However, sentiment remained cautious with losers outpacing gainers 527 to 190, with 329 counters unchanged, 869 untraded and 28 others suspended.

Volume stood at 1.13 billion units valued at RM838.24 million.  

FXTM's Global Head of Currency Strategy & Market Research, Jameel Ahmad said amid concern about an upcoming global trade war, anxiety over how other countries may retaliate against the protectionist nature of US President Donald Trump’s policies is likely to lead market sentiment throughout the week. 

“This means that key economic data releases scheduled for this week might be pushed to the sideline.

“Investors could instead closely monitor if the European Union or China responds to the threat from Trump over the weekend that all countries need to remove their barriers and tariffs or be met with more than reciprocity by the US,” he said in a statement. 

Meanwhile on Bursa Malaysia, among heavyweight stocks in the banking sector, Public Bank gained 18 sen to RM22.90 and CIMB rose 10 sen to RM5.50. 

However, Maybank retreated five sen to RM9.03, Tenaga eased two sen to RM13.84 and Petronas Chemicals lost four sen to RM8.40. 

Among actives, DBE rose half-a-sen to 3.5 sen, Sapura Energy gave up half-a-sen to 44.5 sen and Eduspec was flat at 6.5 sen. 

The FBM Emas Index shed 10.49 points for 11,869.28 and the FBMT100 Index fell 5.13 points to 11,660.70.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index went down 38.71 points to 11,982.69, the FBM Ace Index lost 28.60 points to 5,132.92 and the FBM70 was 55.69 points lower at 14,460.72.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index recovered 23.12 points to 16,598.07 but the Industrial Index dropped 16.10 points to 3,101.59. The Plantation Index dipped 26.90 points to 7,526.05. ― Bernama