KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session lower amid the absence of catalysts with investors monitoring corporate results scheduled for release in the next two weeks.

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gave up 5.35 points to 1,531.73 from yesterday's close of 1,537.08.

After opening 2.14 points higher at 1,539.22 this morning, the local index moved between 1,531.06 and 1,539.90 throughout the morning session.

On the broader market, losers trumped gainers 378 to 357, with 321 counters unchanged, 917 untraded and 40 others suspended.

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Turnover amounted to 1.37 billion shares worth RM915.20 million.

In its note today, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said regional markets bathe in a sea of red yesterday as investors shunned equities amid the prevailing uncertainties.

“Wall Street declined on the back of lower than expected earnings from Apple which casted more doubts on the impact from Covid-19.

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“Meanwhile, we reckon investors are slowly channelling their funds to safe havens namely gold as gold prices touch seven-year high at US$1,600/oz,” it said.

It foresee the FBM KLCI to trend within a tight range again of 1,535/40.

Among the heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank declined seven sen to RM8.40, Tenaga lost four sen to RM12.56 but Public Bank rose 16 sen to RM17.86 and Petronas Chemicals was three sen higher at RM6.51.

Of the actives, Powerwell added four sen to 34 sen, Sapura Energy inched up half-a-sen to 24.5 sen, Foundpac improved 2.5 sen to 97.5  but MyEG was one sen lower at RM1.23.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dropped 31.07 points to 10,968.22, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 54.29 points to 11,701.94 while the FBMT 100 Index gave up 33.50 points to 10,756.34.

The FBM 70 depreciated 26.92 points to 13,916.11 but the FBM Ace appreciated  78.51 points to 5,619.11.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.1 point to 146.10, the Financial Services Index lost 12.68 points to 14,625.05 while the Plantation Index erased 54.60 points to 7,182.03. ― Bernama