KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 ― Profit taking among investors especially in the plantation counters dragged Bursa Malaysia into the red at mid-morning, led by Sime Darby Plantation.
Yesterday plantation stocks received a boost following the jump in crude palm oil prices, a dealer said.
“But today, profit taking has snapped the gains made at yesterday’s close ahead of the weekend,” a dealer said.
The local bourse and its subsidiaries will be closed on Tuesday (July 30) in conjunction with the installation of Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
Trading will resume the next day.
At 11.20am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) erased 6.97 points to 1649.61 and market breadth was negative with 407 losers to 227 gainers, while 346 counters remained unchanged, 949 untraded and 25 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.14 billion units worth RM693.55 million.
Among heavyweights, Maybank was flat at RM8.75, Public Bank declined 14 sen to RM22.54, Tenaga fell four sen to RM13.70 while PetChem was five sen weaker at 13.70.
Of the active stocks during the trading, Only World rose 8.5 sen to RM25 sen, Genting Malaysia jumped 17 sen to RM3.84 while Netx was flat at 1.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index reduced 49.48 points to 11,713.84 and the FBMT 100 Index depreciated 47.31 points to 11,538.59.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index erased 68.83 points to 12,069.21, the FBM 70 dropped 54.39 points to 14,742.24 and the FBM Ace was 40.40 points weaker at 4,726.71.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index lost 77.26 points to 16,354.43, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.60 point to 155.61 and the Plantation Index lost 80.15 points to 6,766.45. ― Bernama
