KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 — Sentiment on Bursa Malaysia remained subdued at mid-morning, in line with the negative performance of regional markets amid weaker crude oil prices.

At 11.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) lost 6.40 points to 1,681.17 from yesterday’s close of 1,687.57.

The index opened 1.88 points easier at 1,685.69 today.

Market breadth remained negative with losers outnumbering gainers 397 to 218, with 248 counters unchanged, 1,018 untraded and 23 others suspended.

Volume stood at 866.71 million units valued at RM494.01 million.

A dealer said the fall in crude oil prices which saw the benchmark Brent crude weaken to US$65.15 (RM273.24) per barrel as at 11.05am, sparked investors’ worries towards risk markets. 

Regionally, Singapore’s Straits Times Index was 0.58 per cent lower at 3,035.95, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.41 per cent to 25,687.74 and Japan’s Nikkei eased 0.12 per cent to 21,784.17.

Among heavyweights, energy-related counter, Dialog suffered the biggest loss, falling 12 sen to RM3.15, Digi eased seven sen to RM4.27, MAHB gave up 13 sen to RM7.95, Petronas Chemicals slid 12 sen to RM9.42 and Hartalega was six sen lower at RM6.14.

Of actives, Securemetric eased half-a-sen to 53 sen, Seacera inched down three sen to 23 sen, Hibiscus shrank eight sen to RM1.02, PUC was flat at 15.5 sen, while AirAsia X went up one sen to 25.5 sen.

Public Bank led the losers list in declining 24 sen to RM24.40, followed by Time Dotcom which trimmed 22 sen to RM7.69, Carlsberg reduced 18 sen to RM19.22, Petronas Gas lost 14 sen to RM18.60 and YNH Property was 13 sen easier at RM1.22. 

The FBM Emas Index retreated 30.75 points at 11,671.33, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 28.49 points to 11,511.89 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 49.07 points to 11,791.12.

The FBM Ace Index was 29.33 points weaker at 4,888.17, while the FBM 70 gained 25.68 points to 13,668.32

Sector-wise, the Finance Index slid 12.10 points to 17,038.23, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.57 of-a-point to 172.32 and the Plantation Index pared 27.02 points to 7,246.52. — Bernama