KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 ― Bursa Malaysia remained in negative territory and slipped below the 1,520-mark at mid-morning, as investors fled blue-chip stocks amid the uncertain political situation in Malaysia.
However, buying momentum in lower liners, particularly in the healthcare sector, remained strong due to the surging Covid-19 cases in the country.
At 11.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 6.93 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 1,518.27 from 1,525.20 at yesterday’s close.
The market barometer opened 1.63 points easier at 1,523.57.
Market breadth was slightly positive with gainers edging losers 408 to 392, while 404 counters were unchanged, 921 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 2.69 billion units worth RM2.04 billion.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank and Maxis slipped nine sen each to RM7.26 and RM5.03 respectively, MISC deducted 13 sen to RM6.72, Petronas Chemicals shed seven sen to RM6.07 and Digi was six sen easier at RM4.06.
Most actives were led by Metronic Global which ticked up 10 sen to 11.5 sen while its warrants inched up half-a-sen to four sen. ES Ceramics grew 21 sen to 73.5 sen, Kanger International advanced one sen to 21 sen while AT Aystematization was flat at seven sen.
Top losers included Nestle, which lost 80 sen to RM139.20, and Petronas Dagangan, which dived 32 sen to RM19.68. Also, KLK gave up 26 sen to RM22.20, Hong Leong Financial slid 22 sen to RM14.36 and Heineken was 16 sen lower at RM19.58.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index trimmed 24.16 points to 10,990.68, the FBMT 100 Index weakened 27.88 points to 10,805.11 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 4.35 points to 13,188.16.
The FBM 70 strengthened 45.91 points to 14,511.99 and the FBM ACE jumped 176.19 points to 10,878.71.
The Financial Services Index contracted 105.05 points to 12,456.63, the Plantation Index sank 33.73 points to 6,999.53 and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.17 of-a-point to 143.59.
The Healthcare Index, however, increased 60.53 points to 4,135.23. ― Bernama
