.JPG "An investor monitors the stock prices in the gallery of the RHB Investment Bank Bhd headquarters in Kuala Lumpur March 17, 2020. u00e2u20acu2022 Picture by Hari Anggara")
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session lower on continued selling activities amid mixed sentiment in the regional markets, with investors remaining on the sidelines due to a bearish global economic outlook, dealers said.
At lunch break, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 3.63 points to 1,544.02 from yesterday’s close of 1,546.65.
The index, which opened 1.22 points lower at 1,534.02, moved between 1,534.02 and 1,546.43 throughout the session.
Market breadth remained negative with losers outpacing gainers 489 to 413, while 394 counters were unchanged, 1,011 untraded and 68 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.32 billion units worth RM1.45 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said regional markets were expected to experience another mixed day on heightened volatility today following cues overnight from Wall Street, which closed on a mixed note as concerns over hike in interest rates lingered.
“On the local front, the FBM KLCI continues to be supported by foreign buying despite regional markets remaining wobbly. As a worst regional performer, we anticipate the local bourse to play catch up reinforced by cheap valuations.
“Though broad-based sentiments continue to be cautious, we reckon bargain hunting on blue chips to persist. Thus expect the benchmark index to trend around the 1,545-1,555 range today,” it said in a research note today.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell two sen to RM8.08, Public Bank, Petronas Chemicals and IHH Healthcare went down a sen each to RM4.09, RM8.71 and RM6.69, respectively, and TNB was flat at RM9.75.
Of the actives, Serba Dinamik slipped a sen to 32.5 sen, Widad Group earned half-a-sen to 39 sen, MMC Corp rose 9.0 sen to RM1.94, and Kanger International was flat at 5.0 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lost 2.30 points to 11,342.72, the FBMT 100 Index was 5.60 points easier at 11,034.23, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index dipped 2.25 points to 12,392.10.
The FBM 70 gained 71.95 points to 14,997.81 but the FBM ACE contracted 4.57 points to 7,160.50.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index added 20.58 points to 6,368.90, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.09 of-a-point to 205.16, and the Financial Services Index shed 20.56 points to 15,239.31. ― Bernama
