KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia remained in negative territory at mid-day today, dragged down by consistent selling in selected heavyweights, including utilities and telecommunications-related stocks, dealers said.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 9.26 points to 1,685.73 from yesterday’s close of 1,685.73.
The index opened 11.41 points weaker at 1,683.58 and moved between 1,683.58 and 1,688.60 throughout the morning session.
On the broader market, losers outgunned gainers 497 to 181, with 293 counters unchanged, 898 untraded and 21 others suspended.
Volume stood at 1.06 billion units valued at RM675.55 million.
Tenaga declined 26 sen to RM13.90, Maxis dropped 13 sen to RM5.37, Axiata shed eight sen to RM3.87 while Digi was two sen weaker at RM4.30.
All these counters contributed 5.81 points to the composite index at lunch break.
A dealer said the downtrend on the local bourse was in line with Asian peers as sentiment remained volatile, influenced by the overnight fall on Wall Street, amid uncertainties about the US-China trade war truce.
Meanwhile, the trading hours for some US exchanges would be shorter today as a mark of respect for the late President George HW Bush.
For other heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB fell two sen each to RM9.40 and RM5.79 respectively, Public Bank rose two sen to RM24.90 and IHH Healthcare was flat at RM5.40.
Of actives, Bumi Armada fell one sen to 16 sen, Main Market debutant Techbond Group jumped 21.5 sen to 87.5 sen, Sanichi added half-a-sen to 17.5 sen and Hibiscus Petroleum was four sen lower at RM1.07.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 105.56 points to 11,652.11, the FBM 70 lost 111.14 points to 13,494.56 and FBM Ace Index was 14.40 points weaker at 4,790.88.
The FBM Emas Index decreased 74.77 points to 11,627.22 and the FBMT 100 Index eased 70.48 points to 11,501.50.
Sectorwise, the Plantation Index was down 50.45 points to 6,886.51, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.94 of-a-point lower at 169.45, and the Financial Services Index depreciated 14.59 points to 17,431.63. — Bernama
