Bursa Malaysia Ends Morning Session Lower
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia failed to maintain the 1,600 level and ended the morning trading session lower, dragged down by persistent selling in most heavyweight counters.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 12.99 points to 1,598.71 from Wednesday’s close of 1,611.70.
The index opened 4.84 points weaker at 1,606.86, and traded between 1,597.72 and 1,606.86 throughout the morning trading session.
The broader market was negative with decliners leading gainers 476 to 378, while 478 counters were unchanged, 1,304 untraded and seven suspended. Turnover stood at 1.40 billion units worth RM1.10 billion.
Market sentiment is likely mirroring Wall Street’s mixed overnight performance, following the United States Federal Reserve’s rate cut and indications of two more cuts this year to support the labour market.
In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said it expects the FBM KLCI to continue trading higher today, as improving global liquidity should bode well for Asian and emerging markets, including Malaysia.
“However, with the imposition of the 19 per cent tariff on Aug 1, coupled with a weakening US dollar, we believe the export-oriented sectors will be negatively impacted in the upcoming results,” it added.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and IHH dropped five sen each to RM9.89 and RM7.31, respectively. Public Bank eased three sen to RM4.27 and Tenaga shed 14 sen to RM13.30, while CIMB added three sen to RM7.35.
In active trade, Tanco gained one sen to 85 sen, MClean and Notion increased 2.5 sen each to 49 sen and 58.5 sen, respectively, while Pharmaniaga and L&P Global decreased half-a-sen each to 27 sen and 11 sen, respectively.
Top losers were Nestle, which reduced RM2.76 to RM95.14, followed by Petronas Dagangan, which slid 70 sen to RM22.28. Dutch Lady shed 22 sen to RM27.14, Petronas Chemicals declined 12 sen to RM4.33 and Ralco trimmed 8.5 sen to 91 sen.
Among the top gainers, Allianz climbed 40 sen to RM18.90, Hong Leong Industries increased 28 sen to RM13.88 and Formosa rose 24 sen to RM1.77, while KSL and MPI were 12 sen higher at RM2.72 and RM28.62, respectively.
On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index gave up 60.87 points to 11,883.12, the FBMT 100 Index shed 65.27 points to 11,634.97 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 43.46 points to 11,892.94.
The FBM 70 Index climbed 35.90 points to 16,656.00, while the FBM ACE Index was 23.08 points lower at 4,826.95.
By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 0.99 of-a-point to 166.56 and the Financial Services Index lost 107.80 points to 18,134.34, while the Energy Index gained 2.67 points to 753.41 and the Plantation Index advanced 9.43 points to 7,724.77.
-- BERNAMA