KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 27 ― Bursa Malaysia remained lower at mid-day today in line with its regional peers, amid volatile lead from Wall Street on prospect of interest rate hike in the United States, analysts said.
At lunch break, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 0.10 per cent or 1.59 points to 1,514.17 from 1,515.76 at yesterday's close.
The key index opened 0.72 of-a-point higher at 1,516.48 and moved between 1,510.64 and 1,518.61 during the morning session.
Market breadth was negative with decliners outnumbering advancers by 564 to 272, while 317 counters were unchanged, 1,107 untraded, and 31 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.30 billion units worth RM875.04 million.
An analyst said trading on the local bourse will likely remain vulnerable as investors digest the US Federal Reserve's post-Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting policy updates.
Meanwhile, Maybank Investment Bank expects the FBM KLCI to move between 1,505 points and 1,535 points range today, with supports at 1,500 and 1,475.
The key benchmark index was dragged down by selling in selected heavyweights led by Petronas Chemicals which fell one sen to RM8.91 while IHH Healthcare shed two sen to RM6.34.
Among other heavyweights, Maybank was flat at RM8.30, Public Bank added two sen to RM4.22 and CIMB rose one sen to RM5.27.
As for the actives, Dataprep Holdings rose six sen to 62.5 sen, DNeX eased four sen to 90.5 sen, ATA IMS fell 1.5 sen to 48.5 sen, and Coraza dipped one sen to 89 sen.
On the index board, the FBM ACE slid 93.08 points to 5,990.93, FBM 70 slipped 69.06 points to 13,364.20, FBM Emas Index went down 25.28 points to 10,862.84, FBMT 100 Index erased 20.87 points to 10,575.96, and FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 44.97 points to 11,525.22.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index expanded 18.45 points to 15,765.34, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.09 points to 199.20, while the Plantation Index increased 3.60 points to 6,601.58. ― Bernama
