Bursa Malaysia Stays Lower At Mid-afternoon On Selling Activities
KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia stayed lower at mid-afternoon due to continued selling in selected heavyweights led by financial services and healthcare sectors.
At 3.03 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 40.08 points, or 2.33 per cent, to 1,677.98 from last Friday’s close of 1,718.06.
The benchmark index opened 18.93 points lower at 1,699.13.
Market breadth was negative with losers surpassing gainers 1,179 to 255. A total of 244 counters were unchanged, 954 untraded and 33 suspended.
Turnover stood at 3.96 billion units valued at RM3.70 billion.
Among heavyweights, Maybank decreased 30 sen to RM11.46, IHH Healthcare slid 33 sen to RM8.57, Public Bank gave up 13 sen to RM4.74, while Press Metal Aluminium and SD Guthrie added 20 sen each to RM4.49 and RM5.80.
On the most active list, Velesto Energy gained 1.0 sen to 34 sen, Bumi Armada added 1.5 sen to 36.5 sen, Hibiscus Petroleum put on 23 sen to RM2.28, Capital A slipped 2.0 sen to 41 sen, while AirAsia X fell 18 sen to RM1.10, and Handal Energy was flat at 4.5 sen.
Top gainers included United Plantations, up RM1.32 to RM31.60; Kuala Lumpur Kepong, up 28 sen to RM19.64; Batu Kawan, up 28 sen to RM19.68; Hengyuan Refining Company, up 26 sen to RM1.95; and Petronas Chemicals, up 20 sen to RM4.49.
Leading losers were Nestle, down RM3.80 to RM102.00; Fraser & Neave, down RM1.40 to RM31.52; Malaysian Pacific Industries, down RM1.06 to RM29.04; Dutch Lady Milk Industries, down RM1.00 to RM31.00; and Hong Leong Financial, down 80 sen to RM20.06.
On the broader market, the FBMT 100 Index fell 284.34 points to 12,083.07, the FBM Emas Index declined 286.43 points to 12,240.93, the FBM Mid 70 Index was 374.46 points weaker at 16,728.87, the FBM Emas Shariah Index weakened 242.61 points to 11,964.19, and the FBM ACE Index gave up 205.91 points to 4,194.12.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index trimmed 561.21 points to 20,226.84, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 4.02 points to 174.27, while the Plantation Index gained 201.97 points to 8,450.41, and the Energy Index increased 15.52 points to 810.79.
-- BERNAMA