KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 — Share prices on Bursa Malaysia were mixed at mid-afternoon today, as losses in selected blue-chips, particularly consumer products and services-related counters, offset gains in some heavyweights.
At 3.05pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,687.65, up 7.11 points from Friday’s close of 1,680.54, after opening 1.29 points better at 1,681.83.
Market breadth was negative with decliners outpacing gainers 415 to 374, while 345 counters were unchanged, 760 untraded and 35 others suspended.
Turnover was at 2.36 billion shares worth RM1.09 billion.
A dealer said investors were keeping a close eye on the Malaysia’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for February, scheduled to be released on Friday.
“Investors remain anxious about the upcoming February CPI data, as the January CPI data, which fell 0.7 per cent year-on-year, had swung the country into the first deflation since 2009,” he said, adding that the wary sentiment had affected consumer products and services-related indices.
On the top losers list, four of them were consumer products and services-linked counters, namely Carlsberg, falling 38 sen to RM25.36, FCW declining 23.5 sen to 71.5 sen, Eng Kah sliding 22 sen to 82 sen, and Nesle easing 20 sen to RM148.50.
Hong Leong Bank was the top loser among them all, erasing 50 sen to RM20.78.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank gained two sen to RM9.49, Tenaga bagged 30 sen to RM12.98, while Public Bank lost two sen to RM24.46, Petronas Chemicals and CIMB slipped one sen each to RM9.24 and RM5.47, respectively.
Stocks that were actively traded were Sapura Energy, shed one sen to 35.5 sen but its warrant ticked up half-a-sen to 14 sen, Orion increased two sen to 21 sen, Iris bagged one sen to 15 sen, while PUC was unchanged at 11 sen.
The FBM Emas Index was 34.45 points firmer at 11,793.63, the FBMT 100 Index grew 35.28 points to 11,638.0 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 60.52 points to 11,808.60.
The FBM Ace Index jumped 65.51 points to 4,899.96 but the FBM 70 was 13.14 points lower at 14,195.93.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index perked 2.30 points to 7,258.49, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.13 of-a-point better at 170.83, but the Financial Services Index fell 32.13 points to 17,504.97. — Bernama
