KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 — Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session easier on profit-taking on selected heavyweight stocks, led by Petronas Dagangan and Hartalega.
Petronas Dagangan slipped 38 sen to RM19.78 and Hartalega shed 20 sen to RM10.08.
At lunch break, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 8.18 points to 1,593.47 from Friday’s close of 1,601.65.
The index opened 0.44 of-a-point higher at 1,602.09 and moved between 1,592.84 and 1,602.09 throughout the morning session.
Market breadth was negative with losers outnumbering gainers 853 to 272, while 331 counters were unchanged, 697 untraded and five others suspended.
Total volume stood at 4.31 billion shares worth RM2.71 billion.
A dealer said the local bourse opened higher but turned negative thereafter before succumbing to profit-taking at the mid-morning session in a choppy trade to end the session lower.
He said Bursa Malaysia was also in line with regional trend, on lack of market catalysts to drive the market, despite better performance on the Wall Street.
Regionally, Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 1.32 per cent to 3,175.91, Japan’s Nikkei was 0.83 per cent weaker at 28,812.63, South Korea’s Kospi went down 0.25 per cent to 3,139.91, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng erased 1.48 per cent to 28,300.52.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank gained one sen to RM8.24, Public Bank eased two sen to RM4.13 and Top Glove shed nine sen to RM5.56.
Of the actives, LKL bagged four sen to 38 sen, Hiap Teck gained 1.5 sen to 65 sen, while Priceworth erased half-a-sen to two sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 76.83 points easier at 11,721.46, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 105.65 points to 13,166.85, the FBMT 100 Index shed 73.26 points to 11,376.90, the FBM 70 slipped 156.71 points to 15,419.43, and the FBM ACE contracted 106.89 points to 8,739.13.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index decreased 1.90 points to 197.46, the Plantation Index bagged 2.93 points to 6,902.62, and the Financial Services Index lost 21.45 points to 14,848.80. — Bernama
