KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 12 — Bursa Malaysia was lower at mid-morning today as investors remained cautious ahead of another round of trade talks between the United States and China which began yesterday in Beijing.
At 11am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 3.13 points weaker at 1,685.43 from yesterday’s close of 1,688.56.
The index opened 3.66 points firmer at 1,692.22.
Gainers edged losers 327 to 300, while 313 counters were unchanged, 913 untraded and 23 others suspended.
Turnover was at 1.06 billion shares worth RM536.3 million.
A dealer said the local market’s performance was in tandem with regional peers who were also awaiting news from Beijing.
“Asian shares were almost flat with investors monitoring the new US-China round of trade talks as the world’s two largest economies try to resolve a tariff dispute that has put a dent on global growth and corporate earnings,” he added.
Among heavyweights, Maybank eased two sen to RM9.57, Public Bank fell 14 sen to RM24.94, TNB declined 10 sen to RM13.06 and Petronas Chemicals lost 13 sen to RM8.41.
Meanwhile, CIMB bagged two sen to RM5.78.
Of the most actives, Seacera and Orion gained two sen each to 28 sen and 17 sen respectively, and VS Industry improved three sen to 90 sen.
Bumi Armada lost one sen to 22.5 sen, while Sapura Energy was flat at 28 sen.
The FBM Emas Index was 7.87 points weaker at 11,720.95, the FBMT 100 Index declined 10.08 points to 11,589.49 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 4.92 points to 11,570.28.
The FBM Ace Index improved 5.53 points to 4,589.05 and the FBM 70 perked 35.02 points to 13,999.63.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 6.25 points to 17,713.92 and the Plantation Index increased 33.04 points to 7,291.53, while the Industrial Products and Services Index was 1.08 points easier at 161.42. — Bernama
