KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session lower today, weighed down by profit-taking in selected heavyweight stocks coupled with escalating geopolitical tensions between Ukraine and Russia, a dealer said.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 14.45 points to 1,571.69 from 1,586.14 at yesterday’s close.
The bellwether index, which opened 0.58 of-a-point weaker at 1,585.56, moved between 1,570.46 and 1,586.07 throughout the session.
On the broader market, losers trounced gainers 907 to 212, while 243 counters were unchanged, 918 untraded and 35 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.93 billion units worth RM2.05 billion.
However, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the commodity-related sectors would remain buoyant with the prices of crude palm oil and crude oil remaining firm, trading at around RM6,054 per tonne and US$96.84 per barrel, respectively.
“On the technology sector, the rebound could be short-lived tracking another sell-down in Nasdaq overnight,” it said in a note today.
The brokerage said traders were expected to focus on plantation, oil and gas, and gold-related sectors given that the underlying commodity trends remained intact.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank lost 13 sen to RM8.64, Public Bank fell six sen to RM4.30, Petronas Chemicals and CIMB weakened five sen to RM9.18 and RM5.50, respectively, and IHH Healthcare bagged 12 sen to RM6.42.
Of the actives, Dagang NeXchange reduced seven sen to RM1.14, Ta Win eased one sen to 15 sen, and Hibiscus Petroleum improved 10 sen to RM1.29.
On the index board, FBM Emas Index dipped 132.27 points at 11,196.82, FBM Emas Shariah Index shrank 130.32 points to 11,901.97, FBMT 100 Index declined 122.39 points to 10,873.94, FBM ACE gave up 237.33 points to 5,860.76, and FBM 70 was 248.75 points lower at 13,286.44.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slumped 183.46 points to 16,155.74 and the Industrial Products and Services Index fell 4.03 points to 205.75, while the Plantation Index rose 150.35 points to 8,020.39. ― Bernama
