KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session lower as negative cues from Wall Street and oil prices took a toll on the technology and energy sectors.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 6.53 points to 1,621.46 from yesterday's close of 1,627.99.

The index had opened 3.05 points higher at 1,631.04, but subsequently began retreating, hitting a low of 1,620.80 at one point.

On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 774 to 261, while 410 counters were unchanged, 802 untraded and 55 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 5.347 billion shares worth RM2.46 billion.

The market was broadly lower in sync with the performance of most regional markets, with only selected construction and lower liners in the positive territory.

The Hang Seng Index dipped 1.55 per cent to 28,950.83, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index was 1.04 per cent lower at 3,426.91, while the Nikkei Index was 1.14 per cent weaker at 29,873.22 as investors await the outcome of the Bank of Japan's policy meeting.

The overnight United States (US) stock market ended in the red with the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 in negative territory. The Nasdaq posted a steep drop following selling pressure in technology stocks.

Meanwhile, oil prices fell by more than seven per cent on Thursday amidst worries over demand from Europe, as well as the higher US crude inventories which surpassed expectations, having increased by 2.4 million barrels last week.

Back home, heavyweights Press Metal lost 16 sen to RM10 and Public Bank declined three sen to RM4.25, while MISC was 12 sen lower at RM6.85 and PChem dropped five sen to RM8.15.

In contrast, Maybank and Sime Darby were five sen higher at RM8.42 and RM2.44, respectively, while Maxis and Digi rose five sen and three sen to RM4.68 and RM3.71, respectively.

As for the active counters, Macpie surged 29.5 sen to 59 sen, Widad slipped two sen to 61.5 sen, and Cuscapi rose five sen to 31 sen.

Dagang NeXchange inched down one sen to 95 sen and Hiap Teck was flat at 50 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index weakened 62.75 points to 11,888.36, the FBMT 100 eased 57.44 points to 11,568.16, and the FBM Emas Shariah dipped 69.15 points to 13,168.99.

The FBM 70 reduced 119.68 points to 15,645.54 and the FBM ACE improved 130.19 points to 10,767.54.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index shed 27.29 points to 15,540.63, the Plantation Index inched down 7.93 points to 7,151.86 and the Industrial Products and Services Index lost 1.44 points to 192.53. ― Bernama