KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 ― Bursa Malaysia finished the morning session lower, in tandem with regional peers, as global sentiment soured on the back of Wall Street’s volatile overnight performance, dealers said.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 6.1 points to 1,657.21 from yesterday’s close of 1,663.31.

The index opened 6.76 points lower at 1,656.55 and moved between 1,653.24 and 1,665.69 throughout the session.

Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.29 per cent to 21,158.02, Singapore’s Straits Times Index eased 0.42 per cent to 3,059.65 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index trimmed 0.11 per cent to 25,723.03.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 ended 0.2 per cent higher at 2,637, after sliding to 2,583 earlier in the day, its lowest point since early April.

The index fell 4.6 per cent last week, the biggest such drop since March.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1 per cent, while the Nasdaq Composite index rose 0.7 per cent.

Overall market breath on Bursa was negative with losers trouncing gainers 446 to 191, with 299 counters unchanged, 969 untraded and 36 others suspended.

Volume stood at 744.73 billion units valued at RM663.86 million.

Among heavyweights, Maybank eased two sen to RM9.35, Public Bank fell 12 sen to RM24.58, Petronas Chemicals slipped one sen to RM9.18 and CIMB shed three sen to RM5.62, but Tenaga was flat at RM13.56.

Of actives, Hubline was flat at four sen, Prestariang slid 2.5 sen to 28 sen, while Bumi Armada and Sumatec bagged half-a-sen each to 16 sen and two sen.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index was 32.76 points weaker at 11,428.99, the FBM Ace Index fell 28.74 points to 4,567.66, and the FBM 70 contracted 46.71 points to 13,273.12.

The FBM Emas Index lost 43.44 points to 11,420.06 and the FBMT 100 Index declined 41.2 points to 11,308.25.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index eased 39.71 points to 6,642.52, the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 0.89 of-a-point lower at 167.41, and the Financial Services Index depreciated 73.76 points to 17,202.15. ― Bernama