KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 14 ― Bursa Malaysia was mixed at mid-afternoon in cautious trading, tracking Wall Street’s overnight losses.
At 3.11pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.19 points to 1,538.97 from yesterday's close of 1,539.16 after opening 0.44 point weaker at 1,538.72 this morning.
On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 403 to 359, with 367 counters unchanged, 849 untraded and 33 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 1.86 billion shares worth RM1.32 billion.
In a note, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said regional markets would likely take cue from Wall Street’s overnight decline, succumbing to selling pressure yesterday amid heightened fears of Covid-19.
“Therefore, regional markets are expected to see more downward bias today. Locally, the FBM KLCI is set to experience some selling pressure although we anticipate buying support to emerge as the index inches closer to the 1,530 mark,” it added.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 128.11 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 29,423.3, while the S&P 500 index lost 5.51 points, or 0.2 per cent, to close at 3,373.94 and the Nasdaq Composite Index closed 13.99 points, or 0.1 per cent lower, at 9,711.97.
Among the heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank gained one sen to RM8.47, Tenaga was six sen higher at RM12.64, Public Bank was 24 sen lower at RM17.56 and Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM6.50.
Of the actives, MYEG rose five sen to RM1.40, Ekovest added half-a-sen to 75 sen and Bumi Armada gained two sen to 40 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 12.23 points to 11,036.12, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 33.39 points to 11,860.67 and the FBMT 100 Index rose 13.05 points to 10,826.00.
The FBM 70 was 75.66 points higher at 14,083.15 and the FBM Ace erased 4.70 points to 5,609.46.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.24 of-a-point to 146.55, the Financial Services Index was 30.12 points lower at 14,546.34 and the Plantation Index was 5.40 points better at 7,296.55. ― Bernama
