Bursa Malaysia Stays Marginally Lower At Midday On Profit-Taking
By Fatin Umairah Abdul Hamid
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia remained slightly lower at midday as profit-taking emerged in selected heavyweight counters, led by industrial products, banking and telecommunications stocks, in line with the mixed regional and global market trends.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 1.14 points to 1,671.17 from Thursday’s close of 1,672.31.
Industrial products losses were led by Petronas Chemicals, which fell nine sen to RM4.49, while CIMB dropped six sen to RM7.90, and telco stock Maxis fell seven sen to RM3.52.
The benchmark index, which opened 2.56 points higher at 1,674.87, moved between 1,668.81 and 1,675.47 during the session.
Market breadth was negative, with losers outnumbering gainers 506 to 474. A total of 503 counters were unchanged, while 1,440 were untraded and 43 suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.01 billion shares worth RM1.25 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng noted that Wall Street closed mixed as uncertainty looms over hikes in crude oil prices and bond yields.
“Notwithstanding the positive reports that both the US and Iran may agree on a phased end to the West Asia conflict, both crude oil prices and bond yields continue to climb. The Brent crude already touched US$106 per barrel while the US 10-year yield tested 5.208 per cent,” he told Bernama.
Regionally, Thong noted that the Hang Seng Index weakened further amid rising bond yields and fluctuating crude oil prices. “As a result, we expect the index to remain stuck in a consolidation mode and hence do not see a swift recovery as yet. Thus, for today, we anticipate the index to hover between the 1,670-1,680 range,” he added.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose four sen to RM10.16, Public Bank eased two sen to RM4.80, and Tenaga Nasional added 18 sen to RM13.24. IHH Healthcare lost four sen to RM8.02.
In active trade, Aimax gained half a sen to 1.5 sen, while Zetrix AI and TWL both remained unchanged at 19 sen and 2.5 sen, respectively. Velesto dipped one sen to 22 sen, and Gamuda gained one sen to RM4.85.
Pekat led the gainers, rallying 29 sen to RM2.93, while Solarvest, Southern Cable and Batu Kawan all strengthened 28 sen each to RM4.18, RM2.87 and RM20.28, respectively. Samaiden jumped 21 sen to RM2.90.
Nestle was the biggest loser, falling RM1.42 to RM90.04, while Dutch Lady Milk Industries declined 36 sen to RM30, and Petronas Dagangan Dagangan dropped 28 sen to RM19.72.
Sarawak Oil Palms lost 27 sen to RM5.71, and United Plantations lost 26 sen to RM32.84.
On the index board, the FBM Mid 70 Index rose 85.43 points to 17,840.25, while the FBM Emas Index gained 12.13 points to 12,453.40, and the FBM Top 100 Index strengthened 8.93 points to 12,240.18.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index added 21.09 points to 12,312.81, and the FBM ACE Index advanced 85.35 points to 5,522.68.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 0.37 of a point to 183.97, while the Energy Index gained 9.33 points to 869.76. The Financial Services Index fell 46.80 points to 19,508.06, while the Plantation Index slipped 41.58 points to 9,349.70.
-- BERNAMA