.JPG "An investor monitors the stock prices in the gallery of the RHB Investment Bank Bhd headquarters in Kuala Lumpur March 17, 2020. u00e2u20acu2022 Picture by Hari Anggara")
KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session lower, in sync with the downtrend on regional bourses.
At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) decreased 6.27 points to 1,601.30 from yesterday's close of 1,607.57.
The market bellwether opened 2.70 points higher at 1,604.87 and fluctuated between 1,605.73 and 1,598.94 throughout the session.
The overall market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers 542 to 416, while 418 counters were unchanged, 790 untraded and seven others suspended.
Total volume stood at 5.62 billion shares worth RM2.58 billion.
The United States’ stock markets extended their losses yesterday as the Dow fell 0.8 per cent amidst rising Covid-19 cases, overshadowing the recent strong batch of corporate earnings.
Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei lost 1.77 per cent to 28,584.17, Singapore’s Straits Times Index trimmed 1.26 per cent to 3,151.92 and South Korea’s Kospi Composite Index declined 1.60 per cent to 3,169.08.
Back home, most of the glove counters were in positive territory.
Heavyweights Top Glove rose eight sen to RM5.48, Supermax added 16 sen to RM5.56 and Hartalega was 12 sen better at RM9.99.
Meanwhile, telecommunications heavyweights Axiata was 13 sen weaker at RM3.87, Maxis lost eight sen to RM4.70, Digi fell five sen to RM4.20 and TM was 11 sen lower at RM5.83.
Among the active counters, Key Asic expanded five sen to 25.5 sen, Ucrest slashed 3.5 sen to 56 sen, SC Estate Builder lost two sen to 10.5 sen and Censof gained 1.5 sen to 49.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index reduced 40.14 points to 11,784.99, the FBMT 100 trimmed 40.35 points to 11,446.20, while the FBM 70 eased 37.64 points to 15,565.28.
The FBM Emas Shariah edged down 41.38 points to 13,190.70 and the FBM ACE was 5.14 points lower at 8,587.52.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index declined 59.93 points to 6,820.10, the Financial Services Index softened 39.96 points to 15,053.19, and the Industrial Products and Services Index was 10.56 points higher at 195.64. ― Bernama
