KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 — Bursa Malaysia ended its morning session lower on extended profit-taking activities in selected heavyweights as consumer-linked shares, Fraser & Neave and Dutch Lady topped the losers’ list.
At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 1.53 points easier at 1,608.65 from Friday's close of 1,610.18.
The benchmark index opened 3.73 points easier at 1,606.45.
In the broader market, losers outpaced gainers by 394 to 316, while 339 counters remained unchanged, 943 untraded and 29 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to one billion shares worth RM648.66 million.
Fraser & Neave declined 34 sen to RM34.50, while Dutch Lady decreased 30 sen to RM46.94.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd was optimistic saying that it continues to see year-end window dressing activities as the key index plays catch-up with the strong gains across its regional peers over the year.
Meanwhile, on the technical front, Kenanga Research said the benchmark index continued to close higher after the candlestick broke above all the key simple moving averages (SMAs) a few days ago.
“Coupled with the bullish moving average convergence divergence (MACD), we believe that the index could move higher. From here on, the support levels can be seen at 1,550 and 1,540.
“Conversely, key resistance levels can be found at 1,630 and 1,650,” it said in a note.
Among heavyweights, Maybank declined one sen to RM8.61, PetChem fell 16 sen to RM7.46 and Maxis declined two sen to RM5.43.
Meanwhile, Public Bank improved 18 sen to RM20.00 and Tenaga rose two sen to RM13.40.
Of the actives, Brahims and Sapura Energy trimmed half-a-sen each to 31.5 sen and 26 sen, respectively.
Bumi Armada increased two sen to 51 sen and Rimbunan Sawit added 2.5 sen to 35.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index shed 15.17 points to 11,389.57, the FBMT 100 Index slid 16.48 points to 11,193.94 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index depreciated 49.21 points to 12,019.33.
The FBM Ace rose 37.18 points to 5,065.77 but the FBM 70 eased 44.84 points to 14,063.14.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index was up 24.77 points at 15,586.31, while the Plantation Index reduced 33.98 points to 7,570.17 and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.42 points to 153.44. — Bernama
