KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 ― Bursa Malaysia remained lower at the end of the morning trading session due to increasing profit-taking activities in selected heavyweights, dealers said.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined by 0.58 per cent or 9.32 points to 1,592.06 compared with Monday’s close of 1,601.38.
The index opened 2.05 points better at 1,603.43 and moved between 1,590.87 and 1,604.98 throughout the session.
On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 582 to 414, while 371 counters were unchanged, 851 untraded and six others suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.72 billion units worth RM1.71 billion.
Meanwhile, in a research note today, Rakuten Trade said major indices on the Wall Street closed flat as traders are pondering on fresh impetus amidst the United States Federal Reserves’ imminent tapering of easy money.
“The Dow Jones Industrial Average was in negative territory for the whole session and ended 36 points lower,” it said.
On the domestic front, it said the FBM KLCI recorded yet another impressive performance on Monday as it remained above the 1,600-mark.
“Foreign funds have continued to pour into the local bourse with more than RM1.1 billion of net inflows over the last three days.
“We expect the momentum to continue, as such, we expect the index to chart higher although some correction is anticipated. For today, we reckon the index to oscillate within the 1,595-1,605 range,” it added.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank slipped 8.0 sen each to RM8.32 and RM4.10, respectively, Tenaga Nasional fell 6.0 sen to RM10.40, IHH Healthcare went down 7.0 sen to RM6.33, while Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM8.30.
Among the actives, Borneo Oil earned half-a-sen to 3.5 sen, Bintai Kinden advanced 8.0 sen to 56 sen, Kanger International rose 1.5 sen to 6.0 sen, while Avillion declined 1.5 sen to 13 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index weakened 42.18 points to 11,585.69, the FBMT 100 Index was 46.60 points lower at 11,295.31, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 34.73 points weaker at 12,715.73.
The FBM 70 perked 14.39 points to 15,037.85, while the FBM ACE dipped 64.62 points to 7,180.28.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index increased 33.32 points to 6,784.57 and the Industrial Products and Services Index gained 1.02 points to 199.36, while the Financial Services Index reduced 59.81 points to 15,497.46. ― Bernama
