KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 ― The lacklustre buying momentum in the index-linked counters sent Bursa Malaysia lower at the end of the morning trading session today.

A dealer said investors chose to stay on the sidelines due to the latest political development in the country.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) contracted 5.35 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 1,513.08 from yesterday’s close of 1,518.43.

The market barometer opened 4.25 points easier at 1,514.18 and hovered between 1,512.90 and 1,518.44 throughout the session.

Overall, market breadth was negative with losers surpassing gainers 482 to 335, while 433 counters were unchanged, 875 untraded and 19 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 3.43 billion units worth RM1.88 billion.

The 30 FBM KLCI constituents continued to endure selling pressure at midday.

Maybank and DIGI lost nine sen each to RM7.26 and RM4.04, respectively, MISC went down 14 sen to RM6.85, Axiata erased five sen to RM2.91 and IOI Corp was four sen lower at RM4.36.

In contrast, Top Glove climbed nine sen to RM9.06, IHH was five sen better at RM5.04 and Hartalega gained four sen to RM17.54, boosted by the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) in Sabah, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.

Most active counters included Advance Synergy which added 4.5 sen to 25 sen, as well as AirAsia X and Malayan United Industries which bagged one sen each to five sen and 12.5 sen, while V Solar eased half-a-sen to 3.5 sen and AT Systematization was unchanged at seven sen.

Top losers included Public Bank and Malaysia Airports which slid 10 sen each to RM15.72 and RM4.24 respectively, RHB Bank fell nine sen to RM4.40, while Petronas Gagangan and Harrisons dropped eight sen each to RM19.42 and RM3.70, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shed 25.35 points to 10,943.16, the FBMT 100 Index shrank 24.25 points to 10,762.64 while the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 1.73 points to 13,108.03.

The FBM 70 strengthened 21.19 points to 14,433.49 while the FBM ACE skidded 28.35 points to 10,551.61.

Financial Services Index dwindled 91.10 points to 12,453.88, the Plantation Index weakened 42.88 points to 6,959.30 and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.40 of-a-point to 141.92. ― Bernama