KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 — Bursa Malaysia had extended its losses to end the morning session in the red as selling intensified, mainly in the banking counters.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI’s (FBM KLCI) losses widened by 10.47 points to 1,520.81 from Tuesday’s close of 1,531.28.
The index, which opened 9.86 points stronger at 1,541.14, retreated after testing the 1,540 level.
It moved between 1,517.30 and 1,541.14 throughout the morning session.
Losers outpaced gainers at 532 to 465, while 409 counters were unchanged, 642 untraded and 20 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 4.33 billion shares worth about RM3 billion.
Meanwhile, Public Investment Bank Bhd said in a note that the United States’ (US) benchmark stock indices closed mostly lower on Wednesday after the US Federal Reserve indicated it would likely hold interest rates near zero until at least 2023, given the outlook for inflation and employment in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 36.78 points, or 0.1 per cent to finish at 28,032.38, while the S&P 500 index shed 15.71 points to 3,385.49 and the Nasdaq Composite index fell 139.85 points to 11,050.47.
On the local market, heavyweights Public Bank lost 52 sen to RM16.18, Maybank reduced 16 sen to RM7.34, PetChem was 18 sen lower at RM5.69, CIMB went down four sen to RM3.19 and HLFG fell six sen to RM13.86.
Hartalega and Top Glove remained higher, adding 70 sen and 28 sen to RM14.80 and RM8.71, respectively, backed by their strong prospects.
Top Glove will be releasing its results for the financial year 2020 later today.
Of the actives, Ekovest and Technodex were two sen higher at 60 sen and 18 sen, respectively, while Bina Puri advanced half-a-sen to 10.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index depreciated 50.72 points to 10,928.48 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 10.51 points to 12,934.88.
The FBM 70 improved 19.17 points to 14,102.06, the FBMT 100 Index shed 51.74 points to 10,740.10 and the FBM ACE rose 60.31 points to 11,438.80.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index lost 178.31 points to 12,648.09, the Plantation Index eased 40.09 points to 7,074.15 and the Industrial Products and Services Index was down 1.85 points to 135.72. — Bernama
