KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 ― Bursa Malaysia remained in the red at mid-morning, mirroring the trend in most regional markets due to losses on Wall Street, as growth/long-duration assets such as technology underperformed amidst higher United States (US) Treasury yields
At 11.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) trimmed 13.74 points or 0.89 per cent to 1,529.18 from Monday's close of 1,542.92.
On the scoreboard, losers thumped gainers 591 to 213, while 343 counters were unchanged, 1,101 untraded and 27 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.46 billion units worth RM932.71 million.
ActivTrades trader Anderson Alves said for the session ahead, traders were likely to gravitate towards defensive plays ahead of next week's US Federal Reserve's meeting.
“The energy sector is likely to be boosted as West Texas Intermediate settled nearly 2.0 per cent higher, following the Houthi rebel drone attack on a key oil facility in Abu Dhabi.
“Continued Russia-Ukraine tensions are also adding to the upside pressure,” he said in a research note today.
Regionally, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index went up 0.31 per cent to 24,188.03, Japan's Nikkei 225 trimmed 1.81 per cent to 27,744.84 and Singapore's Straits Times Index eased 0.03 per cent to 3,279.19.
Among Bursa Malaysia's heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals gained two sen to RM8.97, TNB advanced two sen to RM9.06, Maybank and Public Bank shed seven sen each to RM8.34 and RM4.15, respectively, while IHH Healthcare eased one sen to RM6.55 and CIMB lost 22 sen to RM5.29.
As for the actives, Dagang NeXchange appreciated four sen to 90.5 sen, Sarawak Consolidated expanded 6.5 sen to 27 sen, MQ Technology edged up half-a-sen to 7.5 sen, while Ageson and SMTrack both inched down half-a-sen to four sen and 23 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index contracted 112.10 points to 10,990.20, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 73.98 points to 11,704.04, the FBMT 100 Index dipped 111.27 points to 10,695.46, the FBM 70 lost 207.56 points to 13,579.07, and the FBM ACE fell 64.78 points to 6,178.39.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index increased 3.40 points to 6,666.58, the Industrial Products and Services Index reduced 1.03 points to 199.91, and the Financial Services Index weakened by 276.94 points to 15,814.22. ― Bernama
