KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 ― Bursa Malaysia was lower at midafternoon in tandem with its regional peers as concerns of an economic slowdown took a toll on the markets’ performance.

At 3.09pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 4.61 points to 1,460.07 from yesterday’s closing of 1,464.68.

The index opened 3.09 points easier at 1,461.59.

The market breadth was negative with decliners outpacing gainers 479 versus 338, while 444 counters were unchanged, 1,129 untraded and 24 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 2.41 billion units valued at RM1.09 billion.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank lost one sen to RM9.13 and RM4.23, respectively, CIMB bagged one sen to RM5.79 and Petronas Chemicals dipped 11 sen to RM7.22.

Of the actives, Hong Seng and Widad were flat at 4.0 sen and 46 sen, respectively, while Eden was one sen higher at 23.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dropped 28.60 points to 10,799.70, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 30.33 points to 10,460.26, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 32.67 points to 11,000.73, the FBM ACE Index shrank 19.95 points to 5,098.86 and the FBM 70 Index reduced 29.67 points to 14,310.03.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slid 39.72 points to 16,393.72, the Energy Index slipped 8.55 points to 853.39, the Plantation Index was 20.22 points lower at 6,986.70, and the Industrial Products and Services Index shaved 0.86 of-a-point to 173.58. ― Bernama