At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 2.99 points to 1,416.01 from 1,419.00 at yesterday’s close. ― Picture by Zuraneeza Zulkifli
KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 ― Bursa Malaysia remained lower at midday as the market awaits fresh catalyst to push the equity market forward pending the ongoing United States debt ceiling talks.
At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 2.99 points to 1,416.01 from 1,419.00 at yesterday’s close.
The barometer index opened 0.68 of-a-point weaker at 1,418.32 this morning.
In the broader market, decliners led gainers 424 to 253, while 379 counters were unchanged, 1,203 untraded and 14 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.31 billion units worth RM720.45 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI fell below the 1,420 mark primarily due to the selling on selective banking heavyweights.
“Nonetheless, we reckon bargain hunting on the banks may surface today as we deem the recent sell-down on the sector may have been overdone.
“As such, we reckon the index to trend higher, possibly trending between the 1,420-1,430 range today,” he told Bernama.
He said another interesting development is that, despite a recent slump in crude palm oil futures, plantation stocks remained rather resilient attributed to continuous buying support.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank added 7.0 sen to RM8.65 and Petronas Chemicals increased 2.0 sen to RM6.98.
Public Bank eased 4.0 sen to RM3.91, Tenaga Nasional declined 1.0 sen to RM9.59, and CIMB Group narrowed 2.0 sen to RM5.03.
As for the active counters, Bahvest Resources ticked up half-a-sen to 16.0 sen and Tanco put on 2.0 sen to 54.0 sen but Revenue Group gave up half-a-sen to 29.5 sen.
However, Ta Win and TWL Holdings were flat at 4.0 sen and 4.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dipped 19.59 points to 10,396.28, the FBMT 100 Index slid 19.17 points to 10,095.29, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 12.66 points to 10,776.50, the FBM 70 Index lost 16.77 points to 13,603.92, and the FBM ACE Index shaved off 44.87 points to 4,910.66.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index improved by 0.10 of-a-point to 165.18, while the Plantation Index reduced by 28.11 points to 7,000.18, and the Energy Index trimmed by 2.42 points to 839.51 and the Financial Services Index fell 56.86 points to 15,431.77. ― Bernama
