KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session lower on profit-taking activities, as well as in line with the weaker Wall Street performance overnight.  

At lunch break, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched down 0.74 of-a-point to 1,522.85 from yesterday’s close of 1,523.59. 

The market bellwether, which opened 1.39 points higher at 1,524.98, fluctuated between 1,518.95 and 1,526.34 during the session.

On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 474 versus 360, while 399 counters were unchanged, 967 untraded and eight others suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.42 billion units worth RM1.18 billion.

Rakuten Trade said the recent political developments seemed to have bolstered investors’ confidence, with the FBM KLCI surging past the 1,520 level, with support from the foreign funds.

“With nominations for a new Prime Minister gathering pace, we expect the index to consolidate a bit.

“Therefore, we anticipate the index to possibly hover around the 1,520-1,530 range today,” it said in a research note today.

Of the heavyweights, IHH Healthcare and CIMB both rose one sen to RM5.79 and RM4.61, respectively, Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM8, Maybank eased three sen to RM8.11, Public Bank eased one sen to RM3.94 and TNB shed 12 sen to RM9.82.

Among the actives, Sedania Innovator jumped 12.5 sen to 75.5 sen, Dataprep surged 17 sen to RM1.26, Avillion was flat at 20 sen, Advance Synergy slipped 3.5 sen to 19 sen, Malayan United was one sen easier at 9.5 sen and KNM fell 1.5 sen to 20.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index inched up 0.29 of-a-point to 11,121.43, the FBMT 100 Index edged down 0.31 of-a-point to 10,840.66, the FBM 70 added 18.79 points to 14,569.88, the FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 4.05 points to 12,230.66, and the FBM ACE decreased 21.03 points to 7,111.11.  

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index was down by 3.53 points to 14,841.34, the Plantation Index bagged 61.16 points to 6,384.59, while the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.41 of-a-point to 190.34. ― Bernama