KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 15 — Bursa Malaysia retained its downward momentum at mid-morning today, tracking the weaker regional market due to the United States (US)-China trade tiff.

At 11.08am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 6.63 points to 1,573.97 from yesterday’s close of 1,580.6.

The index moved between 1,573.92 and 1,582.63 throughout the mid-morning trading session.

Market breadth was negative with losers leading gainers 337 to 234, while 374 counters remained unchanged, 1,022 untraded and 18 others suspended.   

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Turnover amounted to 1.1 billion shares worth RM412.5 million.  

In a research note, Rakuten Trade said regional markets are expected to continue its mixed performance today.

“Locally, we reckon the FBM KLCI will remain mixed, hovering in the 1,570/85 range.

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“The only consolation is that foreign investors may take advantage of the stronger ringgit which has been the main catalyst for the fund inflows of late,” the research house said.

The ringgit appreciated by 2.3 per cent to around RM4.08 against the US dollar from RM4.18 in early December 2019.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank eased three sen to RM8.62, Tenaga lost 16 sen to RM12.74, while both Petronas Chemicals and CIMB were flat at RM7.09 and RM5.18, respectively.

Public Bank, however, rose 12 sen to RM19.26.

Of the actives, Vortex was flat at 15 sen, TH Heavy added 2.5 sen to 12.5 sen, Xidelang slid 1.5 sen to 12.5 sen and London Biscuit eased two sen to 1.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index went down 39.77 points to 11,243.43 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 63.46 points to 11,862.7.

The FBMT 100 Index weakened 42.69 points to 11,029.73, the FBM 70 erased 39.35 points to 14,175 and the FBM Ace slipped 1.12 points to 5,549.33.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.12 of-a-point to 152.6, but the Financial Services Index decreased 13.61 points to 15,365.38 and the Plantation Index declined 42 points to 7,560.32. — Bernama