Bursa Malaysia Ends Morning Session Lower, Financial Counters Weigh
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session lower, weighed down by selling in financial services stocks as the local market tracked losses on Wall Street last Friday.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 13.08 points, or 0.81 per cent, to 1,594.68 from Friday’s close of 1,607.76.
The benchmark index, which opened 3.58 points lower at 1,604.18, moved between 1,593.37 and 1,604.65 throughout the morning session.
In the broader market, losers trounced gainers 762 to 215, while 405 counters were unchanged, 1,462 untraded, and 35 suspended.
Turnover amounted to 1.39 billion units worth RM1.29 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the local bourse remained in a consolidation phase following continued foreign selling and elevated crude oil prices.
“Hence, we expect the index to remain within the 1,600-1,610 range today,” he added.
For financial services counters, Maybank trimmed 12 sen to RM9.87, Public Bank shed 13 sen to RM4.70 and CIMB declined five sen to RM7.15.
As for other heavyweight counters, Press Metal jumped 17 sen to RM6.67, YTL Power climbed six sen to RM5.21, SD Guthrie increased five sen to RM5.74, Tenaga Nasional eased six sen to RM12.94, and IHH Healthcare slid eight sen to RM7.92.
In active trade, Ni Hsin added two sen to 44 sen, MAG was flat at 15.5 sen, Zetrix and Top Glove reduced half-a-sen each to five sen and 89.5 sen, respectively, and V.S Industry slipped 1.5 sen to 32.5 sen,
Of the top gainers, Petronas Dagangan advanced 20 sen to RM19.84, Hengyuan Refining expanded 18 sen to RM3.90, Press Metal Aluminium firmed 17 sen to RM6.67, and IGB improved 14 sen to RM2.40.
Among the top decliners, United Plantations dipped 44 sen to RM30.15, Allianz Malaysia sank 36 sen to RM19.44, MISC shrank 35 sen to RM8.41, and Hong Leong Financial Group shaved off 26 sen to RM17.58.
On the index board, the FBM Mid 70 Index decreased 106.60 points to 17,119.33, the FBM Emas Index erased 90.65 points to 11,901.61, and the FBM Top 100 Index declined 89.97 points to 11,696.80.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 43.64 points to 11,876.23 and the FBM ACE Index slid 41.46 points to 5,389.59.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index gained 1.55 points to 174.34, the Plantation Index rose 32.66 points to 8,665.54, the Financial Services Index tumbled 286.43 points to 18,465.39, while the Energy Index put on 4.94 points to 825.94.
-- BERNAMA