Bursa Malaysia Turns Marginally Lower At Midday On Mild Profit-taking
KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia turned marginally lower at midday today as mild profit-taking emerged in the late morning session, dampening market sentiment.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 0.69 of a point, or 0.04 per cent, to 1,682.24 from Tuesday's close of 1,682.93.
The benchmark index opened 3.05 points higher at 1,685.98 and moved between 1,681.27 and 1,690.57 during the morning trading session.
Market breadth was negative with losers outnumbering gainers 492 to 355, while 519 counters were unchanged, 1,305 untraded, and 12 suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.74 billion units worth RM899.56 million.
In a note today, Apex Securities Bhd said heavyweight-led gains are now at risk of turning into outright profit-taking pressure, particularly among technology and semiconductor-linked stocks.
“As such, the market is likely to turn more defensive in the near-term and await clearer signs of stabilisation in regional chip sentiment before re-engaging.
“On domestic catalysts, Bank Negara Malaysia's overnight policy rate decision on July 9 and the Johor state election on July 11, remain on the radar, but external volatility is likely to dominate price action for the rest of the week,” it said.
Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank rose four sen to RM10.96, CIMB gained one sen to RM7.61, Public Bank and Tenaga Nasional were flat at RM4.91 and RM14.30, respectively, while IHH Healthcare dropped nine sen to RM8.29.
Among active stocks, Zetrix AI remained unchanged at 75.5 sen, GIIB and Pentech eased half a sen each to 49.5 sen and 27.5 sen, respectively, and AirAsia X lost four sen to RM1.14, while Dagang NeXchange added one sen to 44 sen.
Among the top gainers, United Plantations garnered 48 sen to RM34.22, Allianz Malaysia gained 28 sen to RM20.88, Kuala Lumpur Kepong advanced 20 sen to RM21.88, Malaysian Pacific Industries climbed 16 sen to RM46.00, while United Malacca was 13 sen higher at RM6.07.
Fraser & Neave led the losers, falling 32 sen to RM29.34, Nestle dipped 28 sen to RM90.52, Petronas Gas lost 18 sen to RM17.62, Press Metal Aluminium shed 17 sen to RM7.50, and Hong Leong Industries slipped 12 sen to RM18.82.
Among the broader indices, the FBM Emas Index edged down 5.93 points to 12,456.86, the FBMT 100 Index eased 5.23 points to 12,287.68, the FBM 70 Index declined 8.53 points to 17,766.07, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 18.79 points to 12,265.56, and the FBM ACE Index erased 19.61 points to 4,854.54.
By sector, the Financial Services Index climbed 28.80 points to 19,956.76, the Energy Index improved 2.68 points to 764.01, the Plantation Index rose 63.11 points to 9,104.99, while the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 1.27 points to 179.93.
-- BERNAMA