KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 — Bursa Malaysia remained marginally lower at midmorning amid weaker regional market sentiment, with mild buying in selected heavyweights limiting further losses, dealers said.

At 11am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 0.14 of a point to 1,460.48 from 1,460.62 at Wednesday’s close — an improvement after opening 0.64 of a point easier at 1,459.98.

In the broader market, decliners led advancers 417 to 301, with 396 counters unchanged, 1,197 untraded and seven others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.52 billion units worth RM659.11 million.

In a note, Public Investment Bank Bhd said the FBM KLCI may be trading easier today, tracking the weaker overnight Wall Street peformance.

It noted that the US Treasuries selloff on Wednesday took stocks along with them. This, it said, came after data showed unexpected strength in the country’s vast services sector, which supported the thesis that a “soft landing” for the domestic economy could mean that interest rates would remain elevated for an extended period.

Among the Bursa Malaysia heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB rose 2.0 sen each to RM9.20 and RM5.74, respectively, Public Bank and Petronas Chemicals gained 1.0 sen each to RM4.26 and RM7.13, respectively, and Tenaga Nasional fell 7.0 sen to RM9.89.

Of the actives, Classita and JAKS Resources eased half-a-sen each to 8.0 sen and 22 sen, respectively, while Top Glove added 8.0 sen to 86.5 sen and KNM Group was flat at 12 sen.

On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index improved 0.50 of a point to 10,463.58 and the FBM 70 Index lifted 6.95 points to 14,312.88, while the FBM Emas Index was 2.43 points easier at 10,792.25, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 3.91 points to 10,962.69 and the FBM ACE Index slipped 20.11 points to 5,209.81.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index perked 14.22 points to 16,506.75 and the Plantation Index advanced 28.22 points to 6,887.18, but the Energy Index shed 0.85 of a point to 864.18 and the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 1.09 points to 172.37. — Bernama