KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 ― Bursa Malaysia remained lower at mid-morning today, weighed down by profit taking in selected heavyweight stocks.

The local bourse bucked the firmer trend of regional markets which took a cue from the Wall Street’s overnight rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high yesterday, boosted by the easing US bond yields coupled with a new stimulus package.

At 11.02am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia (FBM KLCI) slipped 7.34 points to 1,632.49 from yesterday’s close of 1,639.83.

The key index opened 3.10 points easier at 1,636.73.

However, on the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 622 to 368, while 428 counters were unchanged, 785 untraded and 17 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 4.49 billion units worth RM2.0 billion.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank added four sen to RM8.58, Public Bank gained three sen to RM4.35 and Tenaga rose eight sen to RM10.80.

Petronas Chemicals shed three sen at RM8.14 while IHH Healthcare was flat at RM5.29.

Of the actives, AirAsia X and Vizione edged up half-a-sen each to 10 sen and 32 sen respectively, Zelan rose 2.5 sen to 13.5 sen and Widad improved 1.5 sen to 50 sen, while Dagang Nexchange eased half-a-sen at 88.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 12.92 points to 11,939.52 and the FBMT 100 Index declined 24.70 points to 11,625.90.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index was 5.04 points better at 13,186.07, the FBM ACE rose 49.80 points to 10,402.22 and the FBM 70 jumped 74.05 points to 15,642.20.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 77.96 points to 15,757.58 and the Plantation Index erased 27.85 points to 7,154.28, while the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.20 of-a-point to 190.30. ― Bernama