KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 — Bursa Malaysia stayed lower almost across the board at mid-afternoon today with losses recorded in key index-linked counters.
The healthcare-linked counters, which recorded gains yesterday, saw profit-taking activity, with Top Glove and Hartalega, erasing 12 sen and 18 sen each to RM9.48 and RM18.82, respectively.
The other declining sectors that contributed to the losses in the composite index included consumer products and services and plantation-linked counters such as Petronas Dagangan, Nestle, Sime Darby Plantation, and IOI Corp.
At 3.19pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) lost 5.17 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 1,512.94 from 1,518.11 at yesterday’s close.
The market barometer opened 0.39 points higher at 1,518.50.
On the scoreboard, losers led gainers 638 to 381, while 398 counters were unchanged, 734 untraded and 22 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 8.39 billion units worth RM4.17 billion.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose three sen to RM7.23, Public Bank added two sen to RM15.86, Petronas Chemicals shed eight sen to RM5.92, and TNB was two sen lower at RM10.04.
Of the actives, soon to join the rubber glove bandwagon, Luster and Mah Sing traded higher, recording half-a-sen and two sen each to 23 sen and RM1.26, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 38.24 points to 10,999.74, the FBMT 100 Index declined 39.08 points to 10,789.85 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 66.71 points to 13,222.88.
The FBM 70 dropped 61.28 points to 14,579.52 and the FBM ACE contracted 188.80 points to 10,982.96.
The Financial Services Index eased 4.34 points to 12,440.89, the Plantation Index slid 16.73 points to 6,900.79 but the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.13 point to 146.64. — Bernama
