KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 ― Bursa Malaysia continued its downtrend to end the morning trading session lower, as its key index was dragged down by persistent selling activities in heavyweights, led by Sime Darby Plantation and Press Metal Aluminium.  

At lunch break, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 9.04 points to 1,635.37, after moving between 1,633.30 and 1,644.26 throughout the session.

The index opened 0.15 of-a-point easier at 1,644.26, compared to Wednesday’s close of 1,644.41.  

On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 560 to 402, while 484 counters were unchanged, 675 untraded and 56 others suspended.

Volume stood at 2.98 billion units worth RM1.49 billion.

Sime Darby Plantation fell 17 sen or 3.29 per cent to RM5 after the United States Customs and Border Protection imposed a ban on its products over allegations of forced labour in its production process.

Meanwhile, Press Metal slipped 16 sen to RM8.34, Top Glove eased seven sen to RM6.05, while Maybank, IHH Healthcare and CIMB all shed five sen to RM8.52, RM5.66 and RM4.33, respectively. 

Public Bank advanced eight sen to RM20.78, Petronas Gas was flat at RM17.34, TNB slid two sen to RM10.50 and Hartalega declined six sen to RM12.14. 

 Among the actives, MLabs edged up half-a-sen to 8.5 sen, Marina & General gained one sen to 19 sen, Technodex added 2.5 sen to 32 sen, Iris Corp, XOX and AT Systematization were flat at 43.5 sen, 11 sen and 18.5 sen, respectively, while Solid Automotive trimmed one sen to 23.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 54.22 points easier at 11,814.96, the FBMT 100 Index went down 57.12 points to 11,556.05, the FBM Emas Shariah Index reduced 71.27 points to 13,203.88, the FBM 70 weakened 48.84 points to 15,199.92, while the FBM ACE strengthened 94.46 points to 10,729.95.   

The Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.74 of-a-point to 178.18, the Plantation Index decreased 76.09 points to 7,336.72, while the Financial Services Index shed 62.61 points to 15,413.98. ― Bernama