KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia remained broadly lower at mid-afternoon on selling pressure in most heavyweights particularly financial services and plantation stocks amid Bank Negara Malaysia’s decision (BNM) to increase the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) by 25 basis points to 2.75 per cent.
At 3.10 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slid 26.55 points to 1,425.06 compared with Wednesday’s close of 1,451.61.
The market bellwether opened 3.29 points lower at 1,448.32.
On the broader market, decliners trounced advancers 636 to 188, while 341 counters were unchanged, 1,160 untraded, and nine others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.80 billion units valued at RM1.09 billion.
The central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in a statement said at the current OPR level, the stance of monetary policy remains accommodative and supportive of economic growth.
The MPC is not on any pre-set course, which means that monetary policy decisions will continue to depend on evolving conditions and their implications on the overall outlook for domestic inflation and growth.
Of the heavyweights, Nestle dipped RM2.20 to RM130.80, Tenaga Nasional fell 18 sen to RM8.22, Maybank slipped 7.0 sen to RM8.47, CIMB shed 10 sen to RM5.39, and Petronas Chemicals lost 14 sen to RM8.51.
Among the actives, Top Glove decreased by 7.0 sen to 74 sen, Hextar Industries eased 5.0 sen to 61 sen, while Pappajack rose 4.0 sen to 56.5 sen.
Alam Maritim, Metronic and Widad were all unchanged at 2.0 sen, 2.0 sen and 40.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dipped 166.58 points to 10,130.86, the FBM 70 slid 123.33 points to 12,077.52, and the FBMT 100 Index slipped 164.39 points to 9,866.45.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 193.47 points to 10,174.20, while the FBM ACE trimmed 114.33 points to 4,839.51.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index sank 181.50 points to 16,144.60, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 2.53 points to 172.29, the Plantation Index shed 128.0 points to 6,708.69, and the Energy Index eased 2.59 points to 707.74. - Bernama