KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 7 — Bursa Malaysia and some of its regional peers were lower at lunch break as investors continued to watch out for updates on the US-China trade tension, a dealer said.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 3.90 points to 1,679 from yesterday’s close of 1,678.68.
The index opened 1.97 points weaker at 1,681.37 and moved between 1,678.68 and 1,684.36 throughout the morning session.
On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 350 to 252, with 318 counters unchanged, 949 untraded and 24 others suspended.
Volume stood at 1.08 billion units valued at RM635.80 million.
The dealer said apart from the continued concerns over the US-China trade dispute, news that the US Federal Reserve plans to take a wait-and-see approach for its interest rate hike this month, also triggered volatile market sentiment worldwide.
“This (the rate hike) depends on the improvement of the US economy, which will also provide some clues for the world markets,” he added.
Meanwhile, among heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank fell one sen to RM9.43, Public Bank lost eight sen to RM24.80, Tenaga slipped 14 sen to RM13.62 and Petronas Chemicals eased seven sen to RM9.20.
Of actives, Tatt Giap rose one sen to 2.5 sen, Bumi Armada inched up half-a-sen to 16.5 sen, Sapura Energy was flat at 35.5 sen, while Yong Tai was one sen weaker at 36 sen.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 26.12 points to 11,589.14 and the FBM Ace Index was 24.99 points weaker at 4,704.81, but the FBM 70 gained 41.23 points to 13,505.26.
The FBM Emas Index dropped 13 points to 11,590.30 and the FBMT 100 Index lost 12.29 points to 11,470.63.
Sectorwise, the Plantation Index was down 16.72 points to 6,821.06, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.66 of-a-point lower at 168.74, and the Financial Services Index depreciated 10.35 points to 17,441.32. — Bernama
