KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session in a sea of red across board, erasing yesterday's gains due to profit taking.
At lunchbreak, the healthcare segment witnessed the biggest contraction as it declined by 2.63 per cent, with the biggest loser being Hartalega which declined 42 sen to RM17.50, followed by Top Glove which shrunk 44 sen to RM25.68 and main market lister PharmaNiaga which shed 30 sen to RM3.73.
The main index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined by 16.70 points to 1,589.72, after opening 3.12 points lower from yesterday’s close of 1,606.42.
Market breadth was negative as losers trumped gainers 674 to 312, while 352 counters were unchanged, 662 untraded and 16 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 5.85 billion units worth RM3.08 billion.
Of the heavyweights, 25 out of 30 counters were on a downtrend, led by Petronas Chemicals which fell by 16 sen to RM6.25, followed by Public Bank which declined 20 sen to RM17.72, and Sime Darby Plantation which shed 10 sen to RM5.15.
Among the actives, Nexgram remained at top, rising by two sen to six sen, while Eduspec and Vivocom were flat at two sen and 3.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 108.00 points to 11,274.58, the FBMT 100 Index depreciated 107.50 points to 11,118.53 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 130.97 points weaker at 13,099.23.
The FBM 70 declined 100.33 points to 14,174.54 and the FBM ACE was 52.60 points weaker at 7,856.25.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index decreased by 95.94 points to 13,418.69, the Plantation Index weakened 47.80 points to 7,072.04 and the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 1.74 points to 139.88. ― Bernama
