KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 —Bursa Malaysia traded 0.4 per cent easier at mid-morning as cautious sentiment continued to hinder the domestic market from recording a better performance.
Heavyweights were mostly in the red, with financial counters causing the key index to be bearish.
At 11am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 6.59 points and stood at 1,662.35 after having closed at 1,668.94 yesterday.
It opened 1.44 points easier at 1,667.50 today.
Hong Leong Bank lost eight sen to RM18.52, CIMB and RHB Bank slipped one sen each to RM5.15 and RM5.73 respectively, while Public Bank eased two sen to RM22.96.
Market breadth was negative, with 420 losers to 174 gainers, while 344 counters remained unchanged, 918 untraded and 21 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.65 billion units worth RM643.4 million.
Maybank Investment Bank said despite no reversal signals in the current downtrend, the research house expected the downside to be limited, underpinned by strong support between 1,660 to 1,670.
“We expect the uptrend to resume once selling pressure fully normalises,” it said in a note today.
Among other heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals lost 25 sen to RM7.99, TNB fell 12 sen to RM13.66, Maxis was seven sen easier at RM5.63, IHH and Genting slid five sen each to RM5.75 and RM6.61 respectively, while Genting Malaysia was four sen easier at RM3.35.
Of the losers, Nestle was down 20 sen to RM147.80, Genting Plantations eased 12 sen to RM9.92, Hong Leong Industries was 10 sen easier at RM11.30 and PPB Group declined eight sen to RM18.70.
The FBM Emas Index declined 45.48 points to 11,811.80 and the FBMT 100 Index eased 44.84 points to 11,635.65.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index was 63.37 points weaker at 12,195.32, while the FBM 70 slid 52.22 points to 14,898.46 and the FBM Ace fell 28.66 points to 4,672.07.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index eased 17.39 points to 16,597.83 and the Plantation Index shed 8.78 of-a-point to 6,876.87.
The Industrial Products & Services Index fell 2.15 points to 158.06. — Bernama
