KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 ― Shares on Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session easier and in line with most peers in the Asia Pacific region.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 8.44 points  to 1,684.95, from Thursday's close of 1,693.39.

The index opened 4.88 points easier at 1,688.51 and moved between 1,683.71 and 1,690.43 throughout the session.

The broader market was negative with decliners outpacing gainers 356 to 258, while 305 counters were unchanged, 935 untraded and 24 others suspended.

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Turnover amounted to 1.06 billion shares worth RM610.89 million.

A dealer said the slide in the local bourse’s performance was in tandem with regional peers as Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.73 per cent to 20,392.31, Indonesia's Jakarta Composite shed 0.38 per cent to 6,512.44 and the Singapore's Straits Times Index declined 0.14 per cent to 3,196.24.

Public Investment Bank Bhd said in a note, markets in Hong Kong and China were closed for the lunar New Year, but stocks in Seoul put in a weak showing after returning from the holiday, although the Kospi index was up 0.1 per cent.

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Among heavyweights, Maybank, CIMB and Maxis were flat at RM9.59, RM5.65 and RM5.70 respectively, while Public Bank rose four sen to RM24.90 and Tenaga declined 24 sen to RM13.18.

Among actives, Bumi Armada was flat at 22.5 sen, Sapura Energy and KNM Group rose half-a-sen to 27 sen and nine sen respectively, while FGV improved five sen to RM1.12 and Prestariang added one sen to 35 sen.

The FBM Emas Index was 54.35 points lower at 11,699.07, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 56.56 points to 11,576.4 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index reduced 82.31 points to 11,559.36.

The FBM 70 slipped 62.23 points to 13,943.34 and the FBM Ace Index shed 13.81 points to 4,503.17.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index declined 12.81 points to 17,626.35, the Plantation Index lost 33.49 points to 7,286.28, and the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 0.15 of-a-point to 161.59. ― Bernama