KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 — Bursa Malaysia remained in the red after resuming trade in the afternoon as outflow persisted from energy-related and plantation stocks due to weak export data.

At 3pm, the key index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 1.27 points to 1,368.89, while energy counters continued their downturn, declining 2.42 per cent since opening.

On the overall market, losers had the upper hand with 580 counters against 237 gainers, while 316 counters were unchanged, 780 untraded and 30 others suspended.

Turnover was 3.43 billion shares worth RM1.50 billion.

Energy counters have been under pressure since the morning as benchmark Brent crude slipped to US$19.14 per barrel, the second time in one week it dipped below US$20 per barrel.

On the commodity front, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board data showed that March palm oil export to India declined 97 per cent from the same period last year, which is the lowest since 2000.

The performance of the local bourse is directly influenced by global oil prices, commodity prices, as well as global market movement.

Among heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals shed nine sen to RM5.17, MISC dropped 10 sen to RM7.80 and CIMB lost 11 sen to RM3.41.

Sime Darby Plantation meanwhile was down five sen to RM4.75 due to record low export to India due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

Active counters saw mixed fortunes with finance counters hit the hardest.

Velesto slipped one sen to 12.5 sen, Bumi Armada fell one sen to 16 sen, while Powerwell was down 1.5 sen at 30.5 sen.

For top losers, Hong Leong Bank, RHB Bank and IJM Plantations all shed four sen to RM13.20, RM4.65 and RM1.36 respectively.

As for top gainers, Petronas Dagangan added 44 sen to RM20.18, Panasonic Malaysia gained 28 sen to RM31.48 and Hartalega rose nine sen to RM7.66.

On the index board, the FBM Emas dwindled 22.56 points to 9,537.20, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 18.17 points to 9,417.10, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 12.25 points to 10,584.18, the FBM ACE dropped 56.73 points to 4,506.26 while the FBM 70 shed 60.06 points to 11,376.84.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index contracted 83.50 points to 12,184.73, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 1.01 points lower at 114.33 while the Plantation Index slipped 39.45 points to 6,131.12. — Bernama