Bursa Malaysia Ends Morning Session Lower On Profit-taking
KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session lower on continued profit-taking led by industrial products, property, healthcare, and telecommunications stocks.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slid 0.31 per cent, or 5.40 points, to 1,695.44 from Monday’s close of 1,700.84.
The benchmark index opened 2.26 points better at 1,703.10, and moved between 1,692.05 and 1,703.10 throughout the morning session.
The broader market remained weak, with decliners outnumbering gainers 685 to 265, while 477 counters were unchanged, 1,299 untraded and 13 suspended.
Turnover amounted to 1.71 billion shares worth RM1.27 billion.
Maybank Investment Bank Bhd said markets are closely monitoring developments in the United States (US)-Iran talks in Switzerland, which could be a key catalyst for near-term regional market sentiment.
“We expect the benchmark index to trade within the 1,690-1,710 range today, with support level at 1,640,” it said in a note.
Meanwhile, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the FBM KLCI’s technical indicators are signalling mixed market sentiment following the benchmark index’s decline, with resistance pegged at 1,715-1,720 and support seen at 1,680-1,695.
Among heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals declined 20 sen to RM4.07, IOI Properties erased 10 sen to RM4.04, Maxis eased 7.0 sen to RM3.31, Sunway Healthcare shed 3.0 sen to RM1.81, and Telekom Malaysia reduced 11 sen to RM7.41.
Of the most active stocks, ACE-market debutant HSS Holdings gained half-a-sen to 18.5 sen, Zetrix AI and Dagang Nexchange were 2.0 sen weaker at 76.5 sen and 44.5 sen, respectively, SKP was flat at 27.5 sen, and Top Glove eased 2.5 sen to 68.5 sen.
Among top gainers, Ajinomoto surged RM3.82 to RM19.02, United Plantations grew 84 sen to RM32.80, KLK gained 78 sen to RM21.70, Batu Kawan bagged 70 sen to RM21.50, and Petronas Gas advanced 12 sen to RM17.46.
In the top losers’ list, MPI gave up RM1.84 to RM47.00, UMS Integration dipped 56 sen to RM8.46, Nestle weakened 30 sen to RM95.00, while Vitrox and Sam Engineering shed 29 sen each to RM7.17 and RM4.90, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was down by 62.68 points to 12,540.11, the FBM Top 100 Index weakened 59.88 points to 12,376.73, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 66.44 points to 12,419.05.
The FBM Mid 70 Index tumbled 173.65 points to 17,863.45, and the FBM ACE Index slid 45.45 points to 4,747.20.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index shrank 100.36 points to 19,900.89, the Industrial Products and Services Index fell 2.77 points to 186.02, the Energy Index slipped 7.35 points to 755.51, while the Plantation Index jumped 166.14 points to 9,023.20.
-- BERNAMA