Bursa Malaysia Ends Morning Session Lower

KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session lower, weighed down by mild selling activities in selected heavyweights, particularly in utilities and financial counters, in line with the weaker performance of regional markets, an analyst said.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell by 12.92 points to 1,537.27 from last Friday’s close of 1,550.19.

The benchmark index had opened 5.45 points lower at 1,544.74.

The broader market was negative with 726 decliners trouncing 187 gainers, while 390 counters were unchanged, 1,101 untraded and 19 suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.61 billion units worth RM1.40 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the local benchmark index remains significantly affected by externalities; however, buying local stocks should persist as the valuation is still reasonable.

“The Hang Seng Index fell to below the 24,000 mark as traders are selling ahead of the July 9 tariff deadline.  On the local front, the FBM KLCI has been rather resilient to stay above the 1,550 level.

“We suspect foreign funds continue to be buyers, mainly centred on the laggard blue chips. For today, we expect the index to trend between the 1,545-1,555 range,” he said.

Among the heavyweights, Tenaga Nasional dropped 26 sen to RM13.80, YTL Power and MISC each fell 15 sen to RM3.97 and RM7.60, respectively, while Public Bank slipped five sen to RM4.33, and Petronas Chemical was nine sen weaker at RM3.41.

As for the most active stocks, Nationgate lost 14 sen to RM1.64, while NexG rose 1.5 sen to 41.5 sen, Zetrix AI narrowed by three sen to 96.5 sen, Gamuda was 11 sen lower at RM4.99, and Tanco remained flat at 89 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dropped 106.46 points to 11,511.26, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 104.93 points to 11,285.77, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index sank 125.54 points to 11,492.28.

The FBM 70 Index declined 198.43 points to 16,588.61, while the FBM ACE Index trimmed 74.53 points to 4,451.87.

By sector, the Financial Services Index shed 83.70 points to 17,707.52, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 1.67 points to 155.41, and the Energy Index eased 4.85 points to 736.76, while the Plantation Index trimmed 32.32 points to 7,416.42.

Meanwhile, in a Bursa Malaysia filing, Capital A said trading in its securities resumed with effect from 10 am this morning after being halted for one hour.

-- BERNAMA