KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 — Bursa Malaysia surrendered its earlier gains at midday as most of the index-linked counters swung lower in the final hour of the morning trade.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 2.82 points, or 0.19 per cent to 1,511.13 from 1,513.95 at yesterday’s close.
The market barometer opened 5.38 points higher at 1,519.33 and moved between 1,509.29 and 1,520.31 throughout the morning trading session.
Market breadth, however, remained positive, with gainers surpassing losers 519 to 401, while 434 counters were unchanged, 791 untraded and 25 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 4.58 billion units worth RM2.66 billion.
In a note today, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said the FBM KLCI, which experienced some late selling yesterday, might experience some downtrend today.
“The immediate support would be at 1,510, while the 1,500 level would be the next psychological support level,” it said.
The brokerage firm also said it detected an increase in retail participation on the local bourse amidst the implementation of the conditional movement control order (CMCO) from October 14-27 in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, and October 13-26 in Sabah.
Nearly two-thirds of the 30 FBM KLCI counters were in the red, with losses led by Petronas Dagangan as it dropped 68 sen to RM19.14.
IOI Corp fell nine sen to RM4.23, Public Bank declined 14 sen to RM15.96, PPB was 32 sen lower at RM19.18 and Nestle dipped RM1.90 to RM139.60.
Nestle, Petronas Dagangan and PPB are also the top losers across the board, while Mah Sing remained as the most sought-after stock on Bursa Malaysia, rising 19.5 sen to 92 sen.
Meanwhile, Southern Cable and AT Systematization inched up half-a- sen each to 34.5 sen and 7.5 sen respectively, Luster Industries perked 1.5 sen to 16 sen while Kanger International lost one sen to 20 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index ticked up 1.60 points to 10,979.60 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 19.43 points to 13,192.70, while the FBMT 100 Index trimmed 5.77 points to 10,784.55.
The FBM 70 leapt 47.78 points to 14,601.92 and the FBM ACE surged 121.99 points to 10,997.84.
Financial Services Index dwindled 21.89 points to 12,441.70, the Plantation Index shrank 35.06 points to 6,877.65 and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.04 of-a-point to 144.21. — Bernama
