.JPG "An investor monitors the stock prices in the gallery of the RHB Investment Bank Bhd headquarters in Kuala Lumpur March 17, 2020. u00e2u20acu2022 Picture by Hari Anggara")
KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 — Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session lower due to emerging selling in healthcare and financial serives counters, and in line with most regional bourses as concerns over the US-China trade deal heightened.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 14.87 points to 1,496.37 from Monday’s close of 1,511.24.
The index opened 0.09 point weaker at 1,511.15 and hovered between 1,492.32 and 1,511.54 throughout the early trading session.
On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 549 to 316, while 388 counters were unchanged, 679 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 4.65 billion units worth RM1.65 billion.
A dealer said Asian stocks retreated widely from earlier gains following mixed statements from the White House over the US-China trade deal, with President Donald Trump later clarifying the pact was “fully intact.”
The Asian market began on a positive note today before turning red after White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said the trade deal with China was “over”, linking the breakdown in part to Washington’s anger over Beijing not sounding the alarm earlier about the coronavirus outbreak.
“The comment caused a kneejerk selloff in equities markets, although sentiment turned around quickly after a statement from Navarro that his comment had been taken out of context,” he said.
Among Bursa Malaysia’s heavyweights, Maybank was three sen lower at RM7.63, Public Bank declined 38 sen to RM16.40, IHH Healthcare withdrew 16 sen to to RM5.36, while TNB and Petronas Chemicals added two sen each to RM11.80 and RM6.29, respectively.
Of the most active, Iris Corp and Trive Property went up one sen each to 18.5 sen and 1.5 sen respectively, Vivocom Holdings earned half-a-sen to three sen while AT Systematization slipped one sen to 11.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 88.18 points to 10,527.79, the FBMT 100 Index went down 89.62 points to 10,377.61, while the FBM 70 dipped 57.40 points to 12,881.76.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index reduced 79.49 points to 11,930.51 but the FBM ACE climbed 68.07 points to 6,196.53.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index contracted 91.92 points to 6,654.82, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.19 point to 134.61 and the Financial Services Index lost 147.92 points to 12,866.30. — Bernama
