.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, Aug 10 — Bursa Malaysia trended lower at mid-morning as profit-taking in the healthcare sector, particularly glove maker stocks dragged the barometer index lower.
At 11.06 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 12.73 points to 1,565.41 from last Friday's close of 1,578.14.
The key index opened 1.15 points higher at 1,579.29.
Market breadth was negative, with losers leading gainers 589 to 403, while 330 counters were unchanged, 648 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Trading volume stood at 8.87 billion shares worth RM3.56 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, in a note, said with Wall Street struggled amid ongoing talks on new fiscal stimulus and the increased US-China tensions as US President Donald Trump is now targeting both Tik Tok and Wechat.
It said while the Dow Jones Index (DJI) average gained 46 points to 27,433, tech-heavy Nasdaq lost some ground but remained above the 11,000 mark.
“As such, we expected regional markets to be mixed today with the local bourse to possibly consolidate further.
“Though the FBM KLCI is expected to oscillate within the 1,570-1,585 range, we reckoned buying interests on penny stocks to stay,” it added.
Of the heavyweights, Top Glove dropped RM1.04 to RM27.10, Hartalega tumbled RM1.12 sen to RM18.02 and Public Bank slipped eight sen to RM16.68.
Maybank rose five sen to RM7.55 and Tenaga gained eight sen to RM11.10.
Of the most actives, Borneo Oil and Vivocom added one sen each to 8.5 sen and four sen, respectively, XOX added two sen to 31 sen, Xidelang improved 1.5 sen to 10 sen, while Pegasus was flat at four sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index down 112.91 points to 11,253.46, the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 179.02 points lower at 13,318.53 and the FBMT 100 Index weakened 108.86 points to 11,069.94.
The FBM 70 dropped 217.19 points to 14,593.28 but the FBM ACE up 123.46 points to 10,439.97.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index improved 4.93 points to 12,921.02 and the Plantation Index gained 27.38 points to 6,991.13, while the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.25 points to 139.72. — Bernama
