KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 ― Bursa Malaysia extended its downtrend to close the morning trading session on a weak note due to continuous selling, compounded by the escalating geopolitical tensions between Ukraine and Russia, a dealer said.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) erased 3.62 points to 1,579.07 from yesterday's close of 1,582.69.

The index, which opened 2.75 points firmer at 1,579.94, moved between 1,567.19 and 1,580.67 throughout the session.

On the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 667 to 283, while 349 counters were unchanged, 949 untraded and nine others suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.48 billion units worth RM1.56 billion.

In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said it believed the negative sentiment would persist due to the ongoing geopolitical tension.

“However, the recent inflow of foreign funds, coupled with the firm crude oil and crude palm oil prices will support the plantation and oil and gas sectors over the near term,” it said.

It said bargain hunting activities may be anticipated among the plantation and energy counters as the underlying commodity prices remain firm.

Nevertheless, the brokerage said investors may look into gold-related counters, given the rising gold price, which is currently trending above US$1,900 (RM7,950).

There would also be rotational play among sectors such as consumer, property and financial services throughout the earnings season, in view of recovering economic activities.

Meanwhile, market heavyweights Maybank, slipped nine sen to RM8.71, Public Bank eased one sen to RM4.36, CIMB shed three sen to RM5.54 and IHH Healthcare slipped four sen to RM6.35.

Conversely, Petronas Chemicals added two sen to RM9.14.

Of the actives, Ta Win Holdings trimmed 1.5 sen to 16.5 sen, DNex declined three sen to RM1.15, while AT Systematization and SMTrack eased half-a-sen to 2.5 sen and 25.5 sen, respectively.

On the index board, FBM Emas Index was 46.09 points weaker at 11,275.68, FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 32.04 points to 11,960.21, FBMT 100 Index declined 46.62 points to 10,948.89 and FBM ACE decreased 97.91 points to 6,071.98 and FBM 70 narrowed 152.25 points to 13,483.54.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gave up 95.47 points for 16,319.37, while the Industrial Products and Services Index gained 0.71 of-a-point to 208.54 and the Plantation Index rose 98.57 points to 7,884.39. ― Bernama