KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 ― Bursa Malaysia retreated from its early gains to trade marginally lower at mid-morning, dragged down by selected heavyweights, led by Sime Darby Plantation and Petronas Chemicals.
At 11am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.67 of-a-point to 1,598.94 from 1,599.61 at yesterday's close. The index opened 7.04 points higher at 1,606.65.
Market breadth was negative with losers edging past gainers 367 to 349, while 407 counters were unchanged, 1,105 untraded and 10 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.47 billion units worth RM955.04 million.
Heavyweights Sime Darby Plantation fell 13 sen to RM4.56, Petronas Chemicals lost six sen to RM9.32, while Press Metal improved seven sen to RM6.91 and Maybank gained six sen to RM8.68.
As for the actives, SMTrack rose one sen to 22 sen, Dagang NeXchange increased nine sen to RM1.22, KNM was half-a-sen higher at 19 sen and Ta Win stayed flat at 16 sen.
On the index board, FBM ACE rose 6.75 points to 6,292.20, FBM 70 improved 22.38 points to 13,717.74, FBM Emas Index was 0.8 of-a-point better at 11,412.09, FBMT 100 Index increased 0.34 of-a-point to 11,098.09, and FBM Emas Shariah Index gave up 10.04 points to 12,135.60.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index advanced 24.31 points to 16,477.74, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.36 of-a-point better at 212.17, while the Plantation Index slipped 55.68 points to 7,600.74. ― Bernama
