KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 — Bursa Malaysia remained in the red at mid-afternoon as investors continued to withdraw from the stock market following the overnight declines on Wall Street.

A dealer said market players had reacted negatively to the statement by the United States (US) Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin yesterday, as he said that it was unlikely that a stimulus bill would be passed before the US presidential election day on Nov 3.

At 3.05pm, key indicator FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 3.44 points, or 0.23 per cent to 1,519.81 from 1,523.25 at Wednesday’s close.

The market barometer opened 1.81 points easier at 1,521.44.

Market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers 508 to 391, while 476 counters were unchanged, 752 untraded and 24 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 4.49 billion units worth RM3.36 billion.

More than half of the 30 FBM KLCI counters were in the red, with Top Glove leading the losses as it retreated 11 sen to RM9.37, while Digi weakened nine sen to RM4.01, IOI Corp shrank eight to RM4.37, Petronas Chemicals was five sen easier at RM6.01 and Axiata erased four sen to RM2.86.

On the broader market, the most actively traded stocks included Metronic Global which slipped 2.5 sen to 7.5 sen, while Advance Synergy bagged 2.5 sen to 22 sen, Luster Industries added one sen to 15 sen and ES Ceramics was 11 sen firmer at 93 sen.

ACE Market-debutant Samaiden jumped 44 sen to 92 sen.

The top losers list was led by F&N as it retracted by 56 sen to RM32.44, while KESM was 30 sen weaker at RM8.50 and Carlsberg dropped 26 sen to RM19.00.

Top gainers included Nestle which added RM1.80 to RM141.20, Bursa Malaysia which advanced 35 sen to RM8.83 and Scientex which was 24 sen higher at RM11.58.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slid 12.89 points to 11,012.77 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index skidded 24.09 points to 13,229.45.

The FBMT 100 Index contracted 13.85 points to 10,825.40, the FBM ACE decreased 36.20 points to 10,935.090, while the FBM 70 strengthened 22.51 to 14,575.29.

Financial Services Index climbed 12.0 points to 12,462.95, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.22 of-a-point to 144.48 and the Plantation Index trimmed 15.88 points to 6,953.60. — Bernama