KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session sharply lower with selling pressure seen across the board amid negative sentiment surrounding the market, a dealer said.
At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 11.16 points to 1,480.05 from yesterday's close of 1,491.21.
The barometer index opened 2.72 points lower at 1,488.49 and moved between 1,479.77 and 1,492.53 throughout the morning session.
On the broader market, losers trounced gainers 906 to 156, while 316 counters were unchanged, 874 untraded and 16 suspended.
Turnover amounted to 3.74 billion units worth RM1.75 billion
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said in a note today that market sentiment remained negative with margin calls being activated in some counters after hitting limit-down conditions.
“For the upcoming session, we believe the negative sentiment could persist on the fundamentally weak companies, but bargain hunting activities will be seen in solid companies,” it said.
Meanwhile, Asian stocks were mostly higher, paring their earlier losses, despite a weaker overnight Wall Street performance amid uncertainties surrounding the United States (US) interest rates path, and as US Treasury yields resumed their uphill climb, said a dealer.
However, stocks in mainland China retreated, after strong US retail sales data heightened doubt on the Federal Reserve’s March rate cut, it added.
Regionally, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.31 per cent to 35,588.44, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.64 per cent to 15,374.34, Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 0.15 per cent to 3,146.96 and South Korea’s Kospi was 0.36 per cent up to 2,444.77.
However, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index fell 1.59 per cent to 2,788.69.
Back home, heavyweights Maybank shed seven sen to RM8.98, Public Bank eased five sen to RM4.30, CIMB slipped 10 sen to RM5.93, Tenaga Nasional fell 12 sen RM10.32, while Petronas Chemicals gained five sen at RM6.81.
Of the actives, Artroniq dropped 27 sen to 22.5 sen, Widad declined 25.5 sen to 23.5 sen, Minetech Resources eased 1.5 sen to 15.5 sen while Fitters Diversified and Leform slid half-a-sen each to five sen and 17 sen respectively
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 102.87 points to 10,999.94, the FBM 70 Index dropped 145.27 points to 14,898.49, the FBMT 100 Index declined 86.46 points to 10,674.34, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 77.29 points to 11,113.77 and the FBM ACE Index tumbled 286.99 points to 4,760.78.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index declined by 127.82 points to 16,507.31, the Property Index shed 14.10 points to 874.26, the Plantation Index eased 19.18 points to 7,153.39, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.99 of-a-point easier at 172.37 and the Energy Index slipped 10.12 points to 839.81. ― Bernama