KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 21 — Bursa Malaysia remained in the red at mid-afternoon as the market barometer struggled to break past the immediate resistance level of 1,601.

As at 3.05pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 1.26 points lower at 1,601.49 compared with Tuesday’s close of 1,602.75.

The index opened 1.51 points lower at 1,601.24.

On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 384 to 279, while 379 counters remained unchanged, 911 untraded and 14 others suspended.

Advertisement

Turnover stood at 1.29 billion units worth RM852.77 million.

The market, according to an analyst, has been traded in a small range since yesterday, with low market participation from both local and foreign investors.

“This can be seen from the market breadth that untraded counters are high and most stocks that were traded are heavyweights. This is in line with the global investment mood where investors are keen on government-linked companies or government bonds, which are secure in the current volatile economic environment,” she said.

Advertisement

Among heavyweight financial counters, CIMB Bank shed seven sen to RM5.11, Public Bank was down two sen at RM20.78, Maybank was flat at RM8.55, while RHB shed two sen to RM5.50.

As for actives, Meridian shed two sen to 9.5 sen while Lambo Group, MNC Wireless, Bumi Armada and KNM all declined half-a-sen to 5.5 sen, 7.5 sen, 22 sen and 37 sen respectively.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index depreciated 14.50 points to 11,864.285, the FBM Emas Index contracted 12.31 points to 11,337.37, the FBMT 100 Index declined 14.55 points to 11,170.22, the FBM Ace gained 2.29 points to 4,610.47, while the FBM 70 was 42.19 points lower at 14,141.05.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 29.71 points to 15,575.91, the Industrial Products and Services Index was marginally lower by 0.49 point at 149.52 and the Plantation Index declined 4.59 points to 6,756.78. — Bernama