KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 13 — Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session lower on lack of interest in blue chips and despite a positive trend on the broader market, a dealer said.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 2.99 points to 1,684.42 from yesterday’s close of 1,687.41.
The index opened 0.32 of-a-point firmer at 1,687.73 and moved between 1,684.28 and 1,688.46 throughout the session.
The broader market was positive with gainers outpacing decliners 362 to 317, while 347 counters were unchanged, 827 untraded and 23 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 1.39 billion shares worth RM772.66 million.
A dealer said blue chips stayed subdued on a lack of local leads, while ignoring the firmer regional tone on news of US lawmakers reaching an agreement to prevent another government shutdown, and positive vibes from the new round of US-China trade talks.
Among heavyweights, Maybank lost four sen to RM9.52, Public Bank and TNB declined two sen each to RM24.94 and RM13.08 respectively and CIMB shed six sen to RM5.76.
Petronas Chemicals gained four sen to RM8.45.
Among actives, Bumi Armada slipped half-a-sen to 22 sen, while MyEG gained 2.5 sen to RM1.01.
Barakah Offshore, Tatt Giap and VS Industry were flat at 13.5 sen, 10 sen and 90.5 sen, respectively.
The FBM Emas Index was 14.65 points lower at 11,713.10 and the FBMT 100 Index decreased 17.27 points to 11,578.37, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 2.56 points to 11,584.
The FBM 70 decreased 7.51 points to 13,968.86, but the FBM Ace Index increased 1.73 points to 4,618.22.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index went down 17.57 points to 17,700.44 and the Plantation Index eased 24.04 points to 7,307.05, while the Industrial Products and Services Index edged-up 1.01 points to 162.04. — Bernama
