Bursa Malaysia Lower At Midday

KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia remained lower at the end of the morning trading session in the absence of fresh leads. 

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 6.52 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 1,549.62 from Monday’s close of 1,556.14.

The benchmark index had opened 0.78 of-a-point higher at 1,556.92 and fluctuated between 1,548.51 and 1,561.10 throughout the session.

The broader market was negative with 440 decliners outpacing 393 gainers, while 448 counters were unchanged, 1,128 untraded and 17 suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.61 billion shares worth RM853.26 million.

In a note, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said it expects the benchmark index may be stuck within a consolidation phase, in the range of 1,550-1,580 over the medium term.

“Nonetheless, we expect the index to hover within the 1,550-1,560 range for today,” it said in a research note today.

Among the heavyweights, TNB rose two sen to RM14.12, Press Metal added one sen to RM4.97, CIMB and Hong Leong Bank were flat at RM7.10 and RM19.90, respectively, while Maybank slipped 10 sen to RM10.08 and Public Bank eased one sen to RM4.48.

As for the active stocks, ACE-market debutant PEOPLElogy and Tanco added half-a-sen each to 25.5 sen and 94.5 sen, respectively, Velesto was flat at 16.5 sen, and Permaju fell half-a-sen to three sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dipped 27.49 points to 11,565.85, the FBMT 100 Index fell 30.59 points to 11,320.23, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 26.51 points to 11,461.48.

The FBM ACE Index gave up 6.84 points to 4,640.10, while the FBM 70 Index appreciated 23.50 points to 16,409.21.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index trimmed 59.31 points to 18,299.69,  the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.97 of-a-point easier at 155.53, the Plantation Index shed 17.62 points to 7,308.47 while the Energy Index gained 5.50 points to 713.0. 

-- BERNAMA