Bursa Malaysia Stays Lower At Midday
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 13 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia remained lower at midday, weighed down by selling pressure in selected heavyweights, particularly the plantation, financial services and utility counters.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slid 5.63 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 1,735.98 from Wednesday’s close of 1,741.61.
The benchmark index opened 1.18 points higher at 1,742.79, and fluctuated between 1,733.21 and 1,742.79 during the morning trading session.
On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 601 to 357, while 539 counters were unchanged, 1,301 untraded and 15 suspended.
Turnover totalled 1.90 billion units worth RM1.30 billion.
In a note today, Apex Securities Bhd said utilities and energy counters may extend their gains, supported by continued buying momentum and firm crude oil prices.
“Construction could remain resilient, supported by sustained data centre and artificial intelligence (AI)-related investments, which should underpin job flows and earnings visibility for selected contractors,” it said.
Among the heavyweights, CIMB Group gained four sen to RM7.96, while Maybank shed two sen to RM10.58, Public Bank eased three sen to RM5.16, IHH Healthcare slid four sen each to RM5.15 and Tenaga Nasional was six sen lower to RM14.52.
On the most active list, Key ASIC added three sen to 6.5 sen, Ekovest was half a sen higher at 20.5 sen, Oppstar rose three sen to 71.5 sen, and HHRG inched up half a sen to 16 sen, while NationGate eased three sen to RM1.53.
Of the top gainers, Nestle surged RM1.40 to RM104.30, Malaysian Pacific Industries rose 52 sen to RM48.02, UMS Integration gained 19 sen to RM8.34, Ideal Capital firmed 18 sen to RM3.68, and Kee Ming Group put on 15 sen to RM2.28.
As for the top losers, Hong Leong Bank fell 34 sen to RM22.36, United Plantations slid 28 sen to RM33.32, PPB Group dropped 17 sen to RM9.36, Malaysia Smelting Corporation lost 16 sen to RM2.06 and Fraser & Neave erased 14 sen to RM26.76.
On the index board, the FBM ACE Index advanced 40.73 points to 5,244.16, while the FBM Emas Index eased 41.29 points to 12,877.41, and the FBMT 100 Index slid 39.01 points to 12,6789.82.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 49.31 points to 12,721.57 and the FBM 70 Index gave up 47.21 points to 18,388.60.
By sector, the Energy Index edged up 1.06 points to 786.80, while the Financial Services Index gave up 45.87 points to 20,354.15, the Plantation Index slipped 84.38 points to 9,383.96, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.56 points to 189.79.
-- BERNAMA