KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 — Local shares were easier on Bursa Malaysia at midday and in line with most Asian peers, weighed on by negative sentiment, arising from US growth concerns coupled with China’s revised downward growth target.

At lunch break, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,689.37, down by 4.62 from yesterday’s close of 1,693.99 after opening 11.8 points lower at 1,682.19.

The benchmark index moved between 1,682.19 and 1,691.28 throughout the morning session. 

Market breadth was negative as losers led gainers 385 to 308, while 368 counters were unchanged, 808 untraded and 18 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 1.49 billion shares worth RM888.16 million.

A dealer said the US and China, the world’s two largest economies, are currently facing a slowdown which has also influenced global markets.

"The US economy is expected to be lower this year, and China too, has revised its target downward from 6.5 per cent to 6 per cent. This means it’s going to cut back on spending and infrastructure investment as well as lending to companies,” the dealer said.

He said with global oil prices (currently) not providing much support, local stocks would likely be trading on a yo-yo trend.

As for other heavyweights, Maybank rose one sen to RM9.55, Public Bank gained six sen to RM24.68, Tenaga dropped 14 sen to RM12.82 and CIMB was two sen weaker at RM5.62.

Among actives, Bumi Armada fell one sen to 16.5 sen, Sapura Energy was flat at 32 sen, while Dayang Enterprise and VS Industry each added five sen to RM1.41 and RM1.08 respectively.

The FBM Emas Index was 13.69 points easier at 11,752,92 and the FBMT 100 Index decreased 14.97 points to 11,611.88, but the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 1.14 points to 11,689.43. 

The FBM 70 Index advanced 51.26 points to 14,007.33 and the FBM Ace Index appreciated 9.10 points to 4,690.60.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index fell 33.26 points to 17,688.96, the Plantations Index inched up 8.74 points to 7,274.74 and the Industrial Products and Services Index improved 0.13 of a point to 168.07. — Bernama