KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 — Bursa Malaysia remained lower at mid-afternoon, driven by continued selling in selected heavyweights as investors were cautious over the second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth scheduled to be announced on Friday, dealers said.

At 3pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 2.45 points to 1,501.99 from Wednesday’s close of 1,504.44.

The index opened 0.85 of-a-point better at 1,505.29.

On the broader market, losers led gainers 549 versus 342, while 420 counters were unchanged, 903 untraded, and 21 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.3 billion units worth RM1.44 billion.

A dealer said that regionally, most Asian bourses were lower due to growing concerns over increasing restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank declined 3.0 sen to RM8.00, Public Bank fell 1.0 sen to RM3.95 while Petronas Chemicals, Tenaga Nasional and IHH Healthcare decreased 2.0 sen each to RM7.99, RM9.71 and RM5.80, respectively.

Among the actives, KNM and Serba Dinamik gained 1.5 sen each to 20.5 sen and 41.5 sen respectively, Dagang NeXchange earned half-a-sen to 82 sen while BCM Alliance was flat at 16.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 21.43 points lower at 11,014.71, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 21.43 points to 10,731.70, the FBM Emas Shariah Index dipped 21.46 points to 12,098.09, the FBM 70 reduced 44.25 points to 14,577.87, and the FBM ACE contracted 15.29 points to 7,127.31.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index went down 29.24 points to 14,761.78, the Plantation Index lost 24.85 points for 6,122.75, while the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.79 of-a-point to 188.50. — Bernama