KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13 — Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session easier despite a smaller contraction in the second quarter gross domestic product results.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 3.6 points to 1,587.18 after fluctuating between 1,572 and 1,588.71 throughout the session.

Losses in the key index narrowed into the midday session from the start of trading this morning following the GDP announcement.

Bank Negara Malaysia announced that the Malaysian economy improved to record a smaller contraction of 2.7 per cent in 3Q20 against -17.1 per cent in the previous quarter.

The central bank said the improvement largely reflected the reopening of the economy from Covid-19 containment measures and better external demand conditions.

“Improvements in growth were seen across most economic sectors, particularly in the manufacturing sector, which turned positive following strong electrical and electronics production activity.

“On the expenditure side, domestic demand contracted at a slower pace, while net exports rebounded,” it said in a statement today.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted basis, the economy turned around to register an expansion of 18.2 per cent, said BNM.

On Bursa Malaysia, losers overwhelmed gainers 582 to 457, while 888 counters were unchanged, 258 untraded and 39 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 7.45 billion shares worth RM2.42 billion.

Among the heavyweights, Public Bank gave up 16 sen for RM17.76, Tenaga lost 18 sen to RM11.30 and Petronas Chemicals shed two sen to RM6.81.

Maybank and Tenaga rose six sen each to RM7.86 and RM7.76, respectively, while Hartalega was flat at RM15.36.

Of the actives, AT Systematization perked 2.5 sen to 24.5 sen, Xidelang slid one sen to 8.5 sen, Nexgram inched up half-a-sen to 5.5 sen, and Metronic added one sen to 14 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 17.02 points easier at 11,388.32, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 20.47 points to 11,184.33, the FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 11.19 points to 13,309.57, and the FBM ACE fell 160.92 points to 11,191.22.

However, the FBM 70 gained 1.71 points to 14,589.31.

The Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.43 of-a-point to 156.65, the Plantation Index bagged 3.4 points to 7,284.05, but the Financial Services Index contracted 68.16 points to 13,514.45. — Bernama