KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session in the negative territory today, in line with the choppy regional markets' performance as investors sought fresh catalysts, a dealer said.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell by 3.13 points to 1,377.44 from yesterday's close of 1,380.57.
The barometer index opened 4.29 points higher at 1,384.86, before turning negative at mid-morning on continuous selling pressure.
On the broader market, decliners trumped gainers 430 to 283, while 312 counters were unchanged, 1,321 untraded and nine others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.01 billion units worth RM708.49 million.
ActivTrades trader, Anderson Alves noted that traders will be paying close attention to United States’ Consumer Price Index data to seek further guidance.
“The core readings could be key to triggering a major reaction on global assets,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, Bursa heavyweights Maybank and Public Bank lost two sen to RM8.49 and RM4.20, respectively, and Petronas Chemicals declined eight sen to RM8.47, while CIMB added two sen to RM5.32 and IHH Healthcare gained six sen to RM5.60.
Of the actives, Top Glove added five sen to 68.5 sen, Supermax rose 6.5 sen to 77.5 sen and Hartalega advanced 13 sen to RM1.86, while Citaglobal inched down 1.5 sen to 27 sen and MYEG gave up 2.5 sen to 85.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 21.01 points to 9,831.38, the FBM 70 went down 27.40 points to 11,911.96, the FBMT 100 Index depreciated 21.83 points to 9,582.18, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined by 26.89 points to 9,794.74, and the FBM ACE gave up 22.70 points to 4,608.67.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index was 13.25 points lower at 15,910.52, the Industrial Products and Services Index went down 0.19 of-a-point to 169.05, the Plantation Index edged down 34.24 points to 6,330.28, and the Energy Index reduced by 8.24 points to 666.54. ― Bernama