KUALA LUMPUR, April 12 ― Bursa Malaysia remained on a downtrend at midday, weighed down by the continuous selling pressure despite the upbeat performance by most of its regional peers.
At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped by 2.67 points to 1,433.22 from yesterday's close of 1,435.89.
The barometer index opened 1.13 points higher at 1,437.02 and traded between 1,429.0 and 1,437.08 during the morning trading session.
The market breadth was negative as decliners surpassed gainers 428 to 295, while 389 counters were unchanged, 1,151 untraded and 23 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.63 billion units worth RM803.26 million.
In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the Nasdaq’s downtrend overnight may have sent a negative signal to the local technology sector.
“Investors may look for defensive sectors such as consumer staples, utilities and telecommunications,” it said.
However, it said that the trading momentum may remain solid in the energy sector, given the resilient crude oil price.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank decreased three sen to RM8.70, Tenaga Nasional slipped eight sen to RM9.05 and CIMB was flat at RM5.22, while Public Bank rose one sen to RM4 and Petronas Chemicals ticked up two sen to RM7.40.
As for the actives, Tanco was down half-a-sen to 46.5 sen, Jade Marvel narrowed one sen to 30 sen and Careplus eased two sen to 33 sen, while Salutica added five sen to 76.5 sen and Bumi Armada widened two sen to 70 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dwindled 15.57 points to 10,539.22, the FBMT 100 Index trimmed 15.68 points to 10,219.80, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 25.87 points to 10,886.06, the FBM ACE Index was 9.09 points lower at 5,337.24 and the FBM 70 index shaved 7.22 points to 13,778.54.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 2.32 points to 15,781.35, the Industrial Products and Services Index shrank 0.16 of-a-point to 175.12, and the Plantation Index slipped 8.48 points to 6,832.05, while the Energy Index expanded by 4.76 points to 877.58. ― Bernama
