KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 27 ― Bursa Malaysia's benchmark index remained lower at mid-afternoon, in range-bound trading, weighed down by selling in selected heavyweights led by Maxis Bhd and Public Bank Bhd.
Both counters dragged the barometer index down by a combined 2.41 points, said a dealer.
At 3pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 3.16 points to 1,495.23 from yesterday’s close of 1,498.39. The market bellwether opened 1.58 points higher at 1,499.97
However, on the broader market, gainers led decliners 473 to 400, while 382 counters were unchanged, 992 untraded and 49 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 3.32 billion units worth RM1.46 billion.
Among heavyweights, Maybank and Petronas Chemicals shed two sen each to RM8.76 and RM8.49 respectively, Public Bank slipped three sen to RM4.25, while CIMB added two sen to RM5.74 and Tenaga Nasional gained four sen to RM9.56.
As for the actives, ATA IMS rose six sen to 45.5 sen, Nylex bagged 6.5 sen to 49.5 sen, Aimflex edged up half-a-sen to 17 sen, Velesto eased half-a-sen to 22 sen, while MMAG was flat at two sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shed 3.11 points to 10,877.81 and the FBMT 100 Index slid 2.79 points to 10,551.31.
The FBM 70 Index surged 80.31 points to 13,759.78, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 3.59 points to 11,152.72 while the FBM ACE Index increased 14.76 points to 5,702.35.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index improved by 0.30 of-a-point to 190.85, the Energy Index climbed 8.65 points to 879.29, the Plantation Index lost 17.15 points to 6,826.46, and the Financial Services Index fell 37.97 points to 16,465.82. ― Bernama