Bursa Malaysia Remains Lower At Midday Amid Rising West Asia Tensions
KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia traded lower at midday in subdued market sentiment, as investors were cautious due to escalating West Asia tensions ahead of the weekend.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 9.18 points, 0.53 per cent, to 1,705.41 from Thursday's close of 1,714.59.
The benchmark index opened 4.14 points lower at 1,710.45, and moved in a narrow range between 1,701.41 and 1,710.80 during the morning trading session.
Market breadth was negative, with decliners trouncing gainers 659 to 279, while 443 counters were unchanged, 1,392 untraded and 30 suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.82 billion units worth RM1.01 billion.
Regionally, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.27 per cent to 24,891.84, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slumped 3.14 per cent to 64,339.0, South Korea’s KOSPI Composite Index tumbled 5.80 per cent to 6,685.26, and Singapore’s Straits Times Index shed 0.44 per cent to 5,557.08.
Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank and CIMB Group were both four sen lower at RM10.82 and RM7.69, respectively, Public Bank inched down six sen to RM5.11, Tenaga Nasional slid eight sen to RM14.42, and IHH Healthcare eased two sen to RM8.37.
Among active stocks, Aimax was flat at one sen, but Zetrix AI lost two sen to 69 sen, Aimflex was half-a-sen lower at 13 sen, Trive Property inched up half a sen to two sen, while VS Industry slid one sen to 24 sen.
As for the top gainers, ESYS surged 44 sen to 55 sen, Kuala Lumpur Kepong and Ideal Capital rose 24 sen each to RM20.90 and RM3.99, respectively, Khind soared 20 sen to RM1.77, and Gas Malaysia advanced 19 sen to RM5.31.
Among the top decliners, Malaysian Pacific Industries dropped RM1.04 to RM45.14, Nestle fell 72 sen to RM90.48, UMS Integration shed 26 sen to RM7.79, and Hong Leong Bank gave up 24 sen to RM22.12.
On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index decreased 55.42 points to 12,602.31, the FBMT Top 100 Index declined 54.43 points to 12,427.43, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index shrank 42.21 points to 12,454.07.
The FBM ACE Index dipped 47.23 points to 4,921.85 and the FBM Mid 70 Index sank 24.87 points to 17,842.47.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index climbed 10.94 points to 9,251.21, while the Energy Index erased 1.90 points to 772.24, the Financial Services Index fell 120.47 points to 20,090.24, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.49 of a point to 188.27.
-- BERNAMA