BURSA MALAYSIA REMAINS LOWER AT MIDDAY

KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia remained lower at the end of the morning trading session, despite the mostly higher regional market performance, as market undertone remains cautious.

 At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 3.87 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 1,545.0 from Tuesday’s close of 1,548.87. 

The benchmark index opened 4.07 points higher at 1,552.94 and fluctuated between 1,544.02 and 1,553.84 throughout the session.

The broader market was negative with 583 decliners outpacing 267 gainers, while 423 counters were unchanged, 1,145 untraded, and seven suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.04 billion shares worth RM1.01 billion.

In a note, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said the lack of catalysts, coupled with the evaporating daily volume, saw diminishing participation, especially from the retail segment.

“As we do not expect the market to stage a trend reversal anytime soon, we believe the index to hover within the 1,545-1,555 range today,” it said. 

Among the heavyweights, CelcomDigi and Petronas Gas both gained 2.0 sen to RM3.90 and RM17.74, respectively, Press Metal improved by 8.0 sen to RM5.04, MISC added 1.0 sen to RM7.67, IHH Healthcare was flat at RM6.95, Maybank shed 4.0 sen to RM10, Public Bank trimmed seven sen to RM4.45, while Tenaga Nasional and CIMB dipped 4.0 sen each to RM14.10 and RM7.0, respectively.

For active stocks, Harvest Miracle and Alam Maritim both rose half-a-sen to 18.5 sen and 3.5 sen, respectively, Tanco gained 1.0 sen to 96.5 sen, MYEG was flat at 89.5 sen, Sarawak Cable declined 4.5 sen to 3.5 sen, and Inari Amertron slipped 12 sen to RM1.90. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dipped 37.32 points to 11,529.59, the FBMT 100 Index fell 32.52 points to 11,284.45, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index shed 11.62 points to 11,451.26.

The FBM ACE Index gave up 16.43 points to 4,637.11 while the FBM 70 Index declined 63.94 points to 16,349.43.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index lost 104.45 points to 18,211.47,  the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.79 of-a-point easier at 155.67, the Energy Index slid 0.29 of-a-point to 714.48, and the Plantation Index garnered 43.47 points to 7,324.40.

-- BERNAMA