Bursa Malaysia Remains In Negative Territory At Midday

By Zufazlin Baharuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia remained in negative territory at midday, weighed down by lacklustre trading and weaker regional market performance.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) edged down 2.05 points to 1,601.50 from yesterday’s close of 1,603.55.

The benchmark opened at 1,602.81 and traded between 1,597.80 and 1,602.81 during the morning trading session.

Market breadth was negative with 483 decliners versus 430 gainers, while 467 counters were unchanged, 1,293 untraded and 49 suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.39 billion units worth RM1.35 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng said trading on the local bourse has turned lacklustre due to the absence of fresh catalysts, with the FBM KLCI ending flat yesterday.

“In view of this, we anticipate the index to trend in the 1,600-1,610 range today,” he told Bernama.

Among heavyweights, CIMB Group slid two sen to RM7.27, Tenaga Nasional fell six sen to RM13.34, Public Bank and IHH Healthcare were flat each at RM4.28 and RM7.36, respectively, while Maybank added one sen to RM9.83.

In active trade, Capitaland Malaysia Trust slipped half-a-sen to 61 sen, Magma Group decreased two sen to 34 sen and Advance Energy was flat at seven sen, while ACE Market debutant Express Powerr Solutions rose three sen to 23 sen and SNS Network Technology added 3.5 sen to 68 sen.

As for the top losers, Nestle slid 40 sen to RM96.20, Kuchai Development decreased 11 sen to 47 sen, Allianz Malaysia shaved 14 sen to RM18.78, Sunway Construction Group declined 12 sen to RM6.15, and UMS Integration Ltd fell 11 sen to RM4.64.

Top gainers Petronas Dagangan rose by 32 sen to RM22.32, KSL jumped 25 sen to RM3.19, Malayan Cement increased 18 sen to RM6.49, Fraser & Neave Holdings surged 14 sen to RM27.54 and Crescendo Corp climbed 10 sen to RM1.39.

On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index fell 3.72 points to 11,939.28, the FBM 100 Index lost 9.14 points to 11,677.40 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 2.06 points to 11,995.94, while the FBM 70 Index added 12.04 points to 16,813.76, and the FBM ACE Index rose 22.58 points to 5,028.88.

By sector, the Financial Services Index fell 22.42 points to 18,061.35, the Plantation Index declined 20.52 points to 7,706.30 and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.01 of-a-point to 170.05, while the Energy Index gained 5.17 points to 769.66.

-- BERNAMA