KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 — Bursa Malaysia was lower at the lunch break as traders were reluctant to make significant moves on a lack of local catalysts and amid prevailing US interest rate volatility, coupled with the intensifying US-China tension.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 3.89 points to 1,450.30 from yesterday’s closing of 1,454.19.

The index opened 0.19 of a point higher at 1,454.38 and moved between 1,444.39 and 1,454.38.

Market breadth was negative with decliners outpacing advancers 499 to 342, while 346 counters were unchanged, 1,016 untraded, and 20 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.9 billion units worth RM995 million.

A muted Wall Street performance overnight after the release of US lower consumer confidence prompted domestic investors to trade cautiously. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 232 points while the Nasdaq Composite dipped by 11 points.

However, regional bourses were higher with Japan’s Nikkei 222 increasing 0.17 per cent to 27,491.23 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 3.4 per cent to 20,451.95. Shenzhen Index added 1.0 per cent to 11,903.95 and the Straits Times Index rose 0.11 per cent to 3,266.26.

Domestically, heavyweight counters Tenaga Nasional fell 11 sen to RM9.26, IHH slipped nine sen to RM5.70 while Axiata and MR D.I.Y lost six sen to RM3.11 and RM1.64, respectively.

Maybank dipped five sen to RM8.75 and Digi was four sen weaker at RM4.26.

As for active stocks, Icon Offshore lost 2.5 sen to 9.5 sen, Velesto was flat at 19 sen while MY E.G and Vinvest improved 2.0 sen each to 74 sen and 24 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index trimmed 28.06 points to 10,551.07, the FBMT 100 Index slid 28.76 points to 10,242.70 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 47.41 points to 10,750.26. The FBM 70 Index gave up 42.97 points to 13,393.66, while the FBM ACE Index improved by 11.04 points to 5,369.31.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index eased 3.32 points to 16,191.51, the Energy Index dipped 3.84 points to 839.73 and the Plantation Index shed 8.50 points to 6,758.14. The Industrial Products and Services Index eased by 0.45 of a point to 176.98. — Bernama