.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, Oct 21 — Bursa Malaysia remained in the negative territory at mid-afternoon due to persistent selling in selected blue chips, led by telco, healthcare and finance-linked counters.
At 3.25pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) erased 13.81 points or 0.86 per cent to 1,592.51 compared to Wednesday’s close of 1,606.32.
The bellwether index opened 2.11 points better at 1,608.43.
Market breadth was negative as losers led gainers 758 to 278, while 418 counters were unchanged, 838 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.80 billion units worth RM2.02 billion.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank fell four sen to RM8.27, Public Bank declined five sen to RM4.22 and IHH was down by one sen to RM6.59, while Petronas Chemicals was two sen better at RM8.82.
Among the actives, Kanger International was flat at five sen, while Supermax’s shares dropped by 23 sen to RM2.02 after the company’s product was banned from entering United States’ ports of entry effective today.
The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had issued a Withhold Release Order (WRO) against the rubber glove manufacturer and its subsidiaries, based on forced labour allegations in its manufacturing operations.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lost 97.16 points to 11,720.36 and the FBMT 100 Index fell 96.66 points to 11,360.45.
The FBM 70 erased 123.73 points to 15,361.75, the FBM ACE gave up 122.50 points to 7,162.62, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell by 96.53 points to 12,777.45.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index depreciated 147.76 points to 15,790.01 and the Industrial Products and Services Index slid 1.36 points to 211.09, while the Plantation Index was 9.53 points better at 7,037.00. — Bernama
