KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 — Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session on a low note due to the absence of market-moving catalysts.
At lunch break, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 8.72 points to 1,402.26 from Thursday’s close of 1,410.98.
The market bellwether, which opened 0.15 of-a-point higher at 1,411.13, moved between 1,402.04 and 1,411.67 throughout the session.
On the broader market, losers led gainers 428 to 287, while 411 counters were unchanged, 1,147 untraded and 11 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 1.55 billion units worth RM863.55 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI remained in an oversold position, adding that he expects the benchmark index to stage a rebound soon, particularly the banking stocks.
“Thus, we expect the FBM KLCI to trend higher within the range of 1,410-1,420 for today,” he said in a note.
Among the heavyweights, MISC rose two sen to RM7.18 and Press Metal was flat at RM4.70, while Maybank and Petronas Chemicals declined four sen each to RM8.45 and RM6.76, respectively, Public Bank shed five sen to RM3.90 and CIMB went down two sen to RM5.19.
As for the actives, Careplus added half-a-sen to 34 sen, Dagang Nexchange advanced five sen to 61 sen, Top Glove and Fitters Diversified were flat at RM1.02 and eight sen, respectively, Hong Seng Consolidated eased half-a-sen to 13 sen, and Computer Forms discounted four sen to 31 sen.
On the index board, the FBM 70 Index fell 24.39 points to 13,364.79, the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 36.73 points easier at 10,633.81, the FBM Emas Index trimmed 50.71 points to 10,286.34, the FBMT 100 Index fell 51.33 points to 9,977.84, and the FBM ACE Index shrank 25.40 points to 5,289.25.
Sector-wise, the Energy Index gained 2.10 points to 813.35, the Financial Services Index dipped 102.33 points to 15,463.82, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.59 of-a-point to 166.58 and the Plantation Index narrowed 50.59 points to 6,718.92. — Bernama
