KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 — Bursa Malaysia was lower at mid-day today in line with most Asian shares, pressured by concerns over the escalating US-China trade war after the US hiked tariffs on US$200 billion (RM832.9 billion) worth of China’s goods.

At noon break, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) weakened by 5.80 points to 1,604.47 from 1,610.55 at the opening.

Losers beat gainers 645 to 115 with 244 counters unchanged, 905 untraded and 24 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.14 billion shares worth RM566.72 million.

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In a note today, AmBank Research said it believes the market might be poised for a major comeback, thus maintaining its end-2019 FBM KLCI’s target of 1,820 points.

The research house said the market will be buoyed by Beijing’s decision to avoid a full-fledged trade war with the US, while concern over the ruling coalition is losing support from the people is now easing after Pakatan Harapan’s victory in the Sandakan parliamentary by-election last Saturday.

It also sees the revival of Malaysia’s initial public offering market and the proposed merger between Axiata and Digi.Com as among major positive catalysts to support the market.

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AmBank Research said the market was weighed down by lingering concern over capital flight as FTSE Russell puts Malaysia on its watch list for possible exclusion from its FTSE World Government Bond Index, overnight policy rate (OPR) cuts by Bank Negara Malaysia and the escalation in the US-China trade tensions.

Among heavyweights, Maybank fell one sen to RM8.96, Petronas Chemicals was six sen lower at RM8.83, Public Bank rose two sen to RM22.28 while both Tenaga and CIMB remained unchanged at RM11.80 and RM5.12, respectively.

Of the actively-traded stocks, Bumi Armada and Lambo dropped one sen each to 19 sen and seven sen, respectively, while Tiger Synergy was flat at four sen.

The FBM Emas Index declined 58.19 points to 11,316.77, the FBMT 100 Index dropped 50.38 points to 11,154.67 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 77.95 points to 11,472.48.

The FBM 70 weakened 103.84 points to 13,975.21 and the FBM Ace eased 93.05 points to 4,439.52.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index fell 43.77 points to 16,522.41, the Plantation Index lost 43.19 points to 7,007.09 and the Industrial Products & Services Index was 1.46 points weaker at 165.22. — Bernama