KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 ― Bursa Malaysia trended lower at mid-morning on profit taking following yesterday’s rebound while tracking the weaker overnight performance on Wall Street.

At 11am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 6.48 points to 1,488.38 from 1,494.86 at yesterday’s close. The index opened 1.97 points easier at 1,492.89.

On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 428 to 241, while 308 counters were unchanged, 1,327 untraded and 20 others suspended

Turnover stood at 878.75 million units valued at RM513.58 million.

In a note, Rakuten Sdn Bhd said Wall Street slumped on Monday as traders revisited impacts from the Omicron variant coupled with the Federal Reserve’s meeting on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI Average) lost 320 points while the Nasdaq shed almost 220 points to below the 15,500 level.

“On the domestic front, the FBM KLCI briefly managed to breach the 1,500 mark yesterday but succumbed to late profit-taking activities. Window dressing plus bargain hunting may continue on the local bourse today but we reckon regional volatility will play a huge part on today’s performance.

“Hence, we expect the index to trend in the 1,490-1,500 range today,” it added.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell eight sen to RM8.10 while IHH Healthcare and CIMB shed three sen each to RM6.53 and RM5.21, respectively.

Public Bank added two sen to RM4.02 and Petronas Chemicals rose seven sen to RM8.62.

Of the actives, KPower increased 12.5 sen to 53.5 sen, KPower warrant bagged 7.5 sen to 16.5 sen, and AT Systematization eased half-a-sen at four sen, while Permaju Industries and Sapura Energy were flat both at five sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 39.63 points lower at 10,849.66, the FBMT 100 Index fell 38.21 points to 10,546.43, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 48.14 points to 11,677.18.

The FBM 70 declined 20.10 points to 13,979.82 and  the FBM ACE slid 6.19 points to 6,224.89.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.25 of-a-point to 194.45, the Financial Services Index slipped 49.86 points to 15,171.67, and the Plantation Index contracted 64.34 points to 6,464.75. ― Bernama