Bursa Malaysia Lower At Midday As It Tracks Wall St Weakness
KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session in negative territory, tracking the weaker performance on Wall Street overnight.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 6.97 points to 1,715.32 from Monday's close of 1,722.29.
The benchmark index opened 3.33 points higher at 1,725.62, and moved between 1,712.66 and 1,726.88 during the morning trading session.
The broader market turned negative with losers leading gainers 492 to 456, while 533 counters were unchanged, 1,254 untraded and 12 suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.10 billion units worth RM1.39 billion.
Malacca Securities said while Wall Street gave up its intraday gains and ended in negative territory, investors are expected to turn their attention toward the earnings season, with megacap tech counters reporting their earnings this Wednesday.
The brokerage said crude palm oil (CPO) futures are projected to experience stronger price momentum moving forward, hence plantation stocks such as Kuala Lumpur Kepong, United Plantations and TH Plantations are favoured. “The ongoing El Niño weather and geopolitical conflict lifting crude oil prices is expected to benefit the CPO sector,” it added.
Among the heavyweight counters, Maybank fell two sen to RM11, Public Bank dropped one sen to RM5.18, CIMB fell eight sen to RM7.67, Tenaga Nasional gained two sen to RM14.32, and IHH Healthcare was flat at RM8.50.
Active stocks included Aimax, which edged up half a sen to 1.5 sen, while Main Market debutant Stratus Global surged RM1.20 to RM2. VS Industry added 2.5 sen to 25 sen, Zetrix AI inched up a sen to 73 sen, but Velesto Energy slipped half a sen to 25 sen.
Top gainers were Malaysian Pacific Industries, which went up RM2.42 to RM47.08, while Nestle advanced RM1.34 to RM94, and Mi Technovation rallied 91 sen to RM5.78. Pentamaster jumped 29 sen to RM5.20, and UWC bounced 27 sen to RM6.17.
United Plantations led decliners, slipping 54 sen to RM34.06, followed by Kuala Lumpur Kepong, which lost 46 sen to RM21.12. Petronas Gas fell 22 sen to RM17.40, Petronas Dagangan shed 16 sen to RM19.50, and Far East was 14 sen lower at RM3.80.
Among the broader indices, the FBM Emas Index dropped 24.39 points to 12,676.79, the FBM Top 100 Index slipped 28.38 points to 12,503.77, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index reduced 19.79 points to 12,509.86.
The FBM Mid 70 Index climbed 54.85 points to 17,969.74, while the FBM ACE Index advanced 32.04 points to 4,942.81.
By sector, the Financial Services Index lost 51.86 points to 20,246.31, while the Energy Index fell 3.32 points to 772.44, and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.60 of a point to 186.59.
The Plantation Index shed 130.86 points to 9,362.68.
-- BERNAMA