KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 — Bursa Malaysia was mixed at mid-afternoon as profit-taking continued to intersperse with buying interest in selected counters.

At 3.15 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) decreased 2.33 points to 1,518.49 from yesterday’s close of 1,520.82.

The index opened 3.08 points higher at 1,523.90.

Losers outpaced gainers at 456 versus 420, while 421 counters were unchanged, 942 untraded and 18 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 3.11 billion units worth RM2.02 billion.

Healthcare heavyweights IHH Healthcare eased one sen to RM5.69, Top Glove lost six sen to RM3.98, Hartalega shed 25 sen to RM7.39 and Pharmaniaga, one of the most actively traded counters, fell by 14 sen to 90 sen.

Meanwhile, Sime Darby Plantation rose three sen to RM3.59 and IOI Corp added four sen to RM3.73.

Maybank, Public Bank and Petronas Chemicals added one sen each to RM8.06, RM4.06 and RM8.05, respectively, while TNB reduced three sen to RM9.69 and CIMB declined one sen to RM4.53.

Among the top actives, DNEX gained 2.5 sen to 74 sen, Serba Dinamik was flat at 45.5 sen while Kanger added half-a-sen to 7.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 7.85 points to 11,085.43 and the FBMT 100 Index lowered by 8.86 points to 10,794.97, while the FBM ACE trimmed 4.36 points to 7,198.49.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index was 26 points lower at 12,143.76, while the FBM 70 rose 18.18 points to 14,451.42.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index shed 11.91 points to 14,881.27, the Industrial Products and Services Index was up 0.22 of-a-point to 188.25, and the Plantation Index inched up 37.84 points to 6,190.16. — Bernama