KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 6 — Bursa Malaysia fell at midday, dragged mainly by sell-off in healthcare-related and technology counters.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 11.22 points to 1,490.52 compared to 1,501.74 at last Thursday’s close.

(The market was closed on Friday last week due to a public holiday.)

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The market bellwether opened 1.92 points higher at 1,503.66 and moved in a tight range between 1,489.88 and 1,503.76 during the morning session.

On the broader market, losers trounced gainers 682 to 235, while 354 counters were unchanged, 1,005 untraded, and 20 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.95 billion units valued at RM1.29 billion.

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An analyst said worries over the Omicron variant continued to drive market volatility, causing sell-off in Wall Street and most of the regional bourses.

He said US Federal Reserve’s possible monetary policy dovish stance going forward may cause investors to be selective.

The delisting of Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi from the New York Stock Exchange weighed on sentiment in the technology sector, offsetting strength recorded in energy stocks as the oil market improved.

Brent crude is currently trading above US$71 per barrel.

At home, Top Glove led the downtrend among the heavyweights, losing 23 sen to RM2.58, followed by Hartalega which fell 30 sen to RM5.88.

Petronas Gas dropped 24 sen to RM16.34 while Petronas Chemicals slid 10 sen to RM8.39.

IHH was four sen higher at RM6.62 while Maybank and CIMB rose seven sen each to RM8.03 and RM5.23, respectively.

Of the actives, EA Holdings and XOX were flat at two sen and three sen, respectively, Impiana Hotels gained half-a-sen to nine sen, ATA IMS eased two sen to 42.5 sen, and VS Industry expanded 10 sen to RM1.25.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gave up 84.73 points to 10,854.18, the FBMT 100 Index fell 81.51 points to 10,564.24, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 142.98 points weaker at 11,771.92.

The FBM 70 erased 116.18 points to 14,013.85 and the FBM ACE dipped 172.19 points to 6,241.39.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 1.38 points to 191.59, the Financial Services Index rose 16.13 points to 14,992.24, and the Plantation Index trimmed 30.65 points to 6,444.76. — Bernama