KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 ― Bursa Malaysia was lower across the board at mid-morning, moving in tandem with regional bourses as sour market sentiment curbed interest for equities, dealers said.
At 11.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 12.21 points to 1,663.79 from yesterday’s close of 1,676.
The barometer index, which moved between 1,661.3 and 1,671.73, was heavily dragged down by losses in Tenaga, Public Bank and Petronas Gas after falling 28 sen, 24 sen and 32 sen to RM13.18, RM24.74 and RM18.88 respectively.
A dealer said most Asian stocks retreated from gains as the recent rally showed signs of losing steam.
Overall market breadth on Bursa was unfavourable, with losers leading gainers 412 to 165, while 234 counters were unchanged, 1,091 untraded and 24 others suspended.
Volume stood at 618.65 million units valued at RM343.97 million.
For heavyweights, Maybank and Petronas Chemicals eased five sen each to RM9.39 and RM9.12, CIMB shed four sen to RM5.80, and IHH Healthcare slipped two sen to RM5.58.
Of the actives, Vortex inched down half-a-sen to nine sen, Permaju eased two sen to 36.5 sen while both Hubline and DBE Gurney were flat at four sen and three sen respectively.
The FBM Emas Index lost 79.04 points to 11,428.95, the FBMT 100 Index erased 78.04 points to 11,325.7, and the FBM 70 lost 71.01 points to 13,186.35,
Meanwhile, the FBM Emas Shariah Index edged down 72.75 points to 11,382.42 and the FBM Ace Index shed 55.75 points to 4,405.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gave up 117.43 points for 17,348.35, the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 0.5 point to 167.28, and the Plantation Index decreased 32.55 points to 6,665.99. ― Bernama
