KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 — Bursa Malaysia remained lower at midday on lack of buying catalysts in heavyweights, an analyst said.

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 9.15 points to 1,419.39 from 1,428.54 at Friday’s close.

The barometer index opened 4.92 points weaker at 1,423.62.

In the broader market, decliners led gainers 467 to 258, while 378 counters were unchanged, 1,145 untraded and 14 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.55 billion units worth RM797.89 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said in view of the uncertainty in the United States, the brokerage reckoned regional sentiment would stay fragile and hence expected the FBM KLCI to be under some selling pressure.

“Therefore, we believe the index will hover within the 1,420-1,430 range today with continued headwinds in the plantation sector as crude palm oil futures fell below the RM3,400-per-tonne level or an almost seven-month low on slower demand,” he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank declined 17 sen to RM8.61, Public Bank eased 2.0 sen to RM3.96, and Tenaga Nasional decreased 20 sen to RM9.62, while Petronas Chemicals added 10 sen to RM6.96 and CIMB Group increased 3.0 sen to RM5.05.

As for the active counters, Bahvest Resources ticked up 5.0 sen to 19 sen, Jade Marvel rose 2.0 sen to 24.0 sen, and Vinvest Capital gained 1.5 sen to 85 sen, while DXN Holdings slid 2.5 sen to 64.0 sen and AHB Holdings eased half-a-sen to 16.0 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dipped 44.05 points to 10,430.70, the FBMT 100 Index slid 43.22 points to 10,127.14, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 30.91 points to 10,798.60, the FBM 70 Index edged up 33.19 points to 13,678.94, and the FBM ACE Index shaved off 16.58 points to 4,986.32.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index was flat at 164.99, while the Plantation Index ticked up 17.33 points for 7,043.88, and the Energy Index edged up 0.28 of-a-point to 839.81.

However, the Financial Services Index fell 91.24 points to 15,514.99. — Bernama