KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 — Bursa Malaysia slipped at the midday break today as cautious investors took profit ahead of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting today and tomorrow, analysts said.

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slid 5.11 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 1,601.74 from Monday’s close of 1,606.85. The index opened 1.59 points lower at 1,605.26 and moved between 1,601.18 and 1,606.81 throughout the morning session.

On the broader market, decliners thumped gainers 547 to 317 while 526 counters remained unchanged, 1,082 were untraded, and 11 were suspended.

Turnover amounted to 1.68 billion units worth RM1.02 billion.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said as attention shifted to the upcoming FOMC meeting, trading activities in the United States may slow down.

"However, we believe buying interest may emerge on the local front amid the ongoing window dressing activities throughout December. We believe stocks linked to the data centre supply chain and technology will perform well under the stronger US dollar environment," it said in a note.

On the technical front, the brokerage said the benchmark index's resistance is anticipated around 1,621-1,626 and support at 1,586-1,591.

Among heavyweight stocks, Press Metal Aluminium was 15 sen lower at RM4.88, Petronas Chemicals eased 11 sen to RM4.87 and Hong Leong Bank shed 42 sen to RM20.02. Sime Darby slid 8.0 sen to RM2.35 and Public Bank fell 1.0 sen to RM4.53.

Air fragrance maker Vanzo Holdings Bhd, which made its debut on Bursa Malaysia's ACE Market today, emerged as the most active stock, jumping 3.0 sen to 18 sen.

Other active stocks included Zen Tech, which was flat at 1.0 sen, TWL rose half-a-sen to 3.0 sen, Pestech added 2.5 sen to 17 sen, JCY grew half-a-sen to 52 sen, and MYEG was flat at 96 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gave up 29.62 points to 12,298.56, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell by 26.13 points to 12,328.01 and the FBM ACE Index shed 31.68 points to 5,276.64.

The FBMT 100 Index dipped 29.65 points to 11,981.68 and the FBM 70 Index slid 14.49 points to 18,475.01.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index fell 79.23 points to 18,973.33, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.73 points to 173.37 and the Energy Index trimmed 1.51 points to 814.46.

The Plantation Index gained 14.91 points to 7,668.65. — Bernama