Bursa Malaysia Ends Morning Session Lower
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed the morning session lower, mirroring a downbeat trend across regional markets.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 21.87 points to 1,719.07, from Thursday’s close of 1,740.94.
The benchmark opened 3.88 points lower at 1,737.06 and fluctuated between 1,717.06 and 1,737.06 during the session.
Decliners outpaced gainers 823 to 270 in the broader market, while 422 counters were unchanged, 1,175 untraded, and 76 suspended.
Market turnover stood at 1.77 billion shares valued at RM1.92 billion.
At the same time, Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index slipped 0.31 per cent to 8,209.33, South Korea’s Kospi Index fell 0.48 per cent to 6,277.19, and China’s Shanghai Composite Index edged down 0.17 per cent to 4,139.53.
In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said overall market conditions remain in profit-taking mode. It added that certain banking stocks, including Maybank, experienced a knee-jerk sell-off, presenting a potential buy-on-dip opportunity given the bank’s consistent dividend track record.
Among heavyweights, Maybank slipped four sen to RM11.96, Public Bank fell eight sen to RM4.92, and CIMB Group lost 26 sen to RM8.20. Tenaga Nasional gained 16 sen to RM14.34, while IHH Healthcare eased two sen to RM9.00.
On the most active list, Zetrix AI was unchanged at 80 sen, Tanco added five sen to RM1.58, VS Industry fell 2.5 sen to 34 sen, Greatech rose nine sen to RM2.06, and Velesto remained flat at 30.5 sen.
Top gainers included Hume Cement and Hong Leong Industries, each advancing 36 sen to RM3.88 and RM18.74, respectively. Fraser & Neave rose 32 sen to RM33.82, UWC gained 20 sen to RM4.31, and Kelington added 19 sen to RM5.40.
Top losers were Hong Leong Financial Group, down 50 sen to RM21.40; Nestle, down 40 sen to RM110.40; Ayer Holdings, down 37 sen to RM7.01; Press Metal, down 36 sen to RM7.24; and Hong Leong Bank, down 34 sen to RM23.50.
On the index board, the FBMT100 Index fell 145.06 points to 12,449.24, the FBM Emas Index dropped 143.47 points to 12,625.12, the FBM70 Index slid 144.68 points to 17,553.56, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 102.08 points to 12,209.63, and the FBM ACE Index retreated 65.16 points to 4,699.39.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index fell 324.28 points to 21,142.05, the Plantation Index eased 62.66 points to 8,288.89, the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 4.01 points to 171.33, and the Energy Index declined 7.29 points to 752.17.
-- BERNAMA
