Bursa Malaysia Lower At Midday Weighed Down By Banking Stocks
KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session in the red, weighed down by selling pressure in banking stocks.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 5.34 points to 1,726.11 from last Friday’s close of 1,731.45.
The benchmark index opened 1.20 points higher at 1,732.65, and moved between 1,724.64 and 1,733.76 during the morning trading session.
However, market breadth was slightly positive with gainers leading losers at 490 to 445, while 499 counters were unchanged, 1,301 untraded and 12 suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.01 billion units worth RM992.02 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said it expected the benchmark FBM KLCI to kickstart the week on a softer note, particularly in the technology sector, tracking Wall Street’s negative closing last Friday.
“In view of the intensifying US–Iran conflict with heavy drone and missile strikes, we expect Wall Street to kickstart the week in a risk-off mode.
“However, we believe the spike in crude oil prices should bode well for energy-related counters,” it said in a research note today.
Bursa Malaysia also tracked the movement of some of its regional peers, whereby Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 4.03 per cent to 64,141.12, South Korea’s KOSPI Composite Index declined 3.12 per cent to 6,606.36, and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange eased 0.11 per cent to 13,692.01, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 2.08 per cent to 25,072.77 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index inched up 0.06 per cent to 5,512.09,
Banking sector heavyweights, Maybank fell 14 sen to RM11.06, Public Bank shed five sen to RM5.20, CIMB dropped eight sen to RM7.74, Hong Leong Bank fell 28 sen to RM22.16, and RHB Bank slid 11 sen to RM8.42.
Among other heavyweight counters, Tenaga Nasional and Press Metal Aluminium were both flat at RM14.30 and RM8.00, respectively, IHH Healtcare gained four sen to RM8.54, Petronas Chemicals Group added 13 sen to RM4.86, while SD Guthrie lost five sen to RM6.70.
Among actively traded stocks, Inari Amertron rose by 11 sen to RM2.28, Aimax gained half-a-sen to 15 sen, Pegasus Heights Bhd was flat at half-a-sen, Tanco Holdings fell 2.5 sen to 31 sen, and Dagang NeXchange edged down half-a-sen to 43.5 sen.
Among the top gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries climbed RM1.16 to RM44.36, Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia garnered 35 sen to RM5.65, Westports Holdings was 34 sen higher at RM6.49, Kelington Group jumped 25 sen to RM7.75, and Vitrox leapt 20 sen to RM7.48.
The top losers were led by Nestle, which declined 66 sen to RM92.78, Hong Leong Financial slipped 20 sen to RM18.62, and Batu Kawan Bhd erased 12 sen to RM21.20.
Among broader indices, the FBM Mid 70 Index surged 157.16 points to 17,932.08, the FBM Emas Index rose 2.58 points to 12,721.67, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index put on 68.64 points to 12,551.11.
The FBM ACE Index increased 13.78 points to 4,892.93 and the FBMT 100 Index gave up 1.52 points to 12,556.03.
By sector, the Financial Services Index dipped 200.18 points to 20,335.17, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 1.20 points to 187.93, the Plantation Index went down 10.06 points to 9,473.71, while the Energy Index advanced 12.87 points to 779.15
-- BERNAMA