KUALA LUMPUR, April 12 — Bursa Malaysia remained in the negative territory at mid-morning, dragged down by technology and plantation counters.
At 11am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slid 2.97 points to 1,601.64 from Monday’s close of 1,604.61. The barometer index opened 0.74 of-a-point easier at 1,603.87.
On the broader market, losers led gainers 513 to 234, while 368 counters were unchanged, 1,138 untraded and 12 others suspended.
Total turnover stood at 1.45 billion units worth RM715.32 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said investors may focus on recovery theme sectors, including consumers, aviation, transportation and logistics with the declining number of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia.
“Meanwhile, investors may position themselves in the plantation stocks ahead of the May 2022 reporting season.
“On the other hand, they may continue to avoid technology stocks in anticipation of a hawkish move in the United States,” it said in a note.
Among the heavyweights, both Maybank and Public Bank gained one sen to RM8.86 and RM4.68, respectively, Petronas Chemicals rose 10 sen to RM10.30, IHH Healthcare added four sen to RM6.44, while CIMB was flat at RM5.33.
Of the actives, CSH Alliance and VSolar were flat at 14 sen and 10 sen, respectively, TWL inched up half-a-sen to nine sen, Tanco increased six sen to 45.5 sen and MNC Wireless rose one sen to four sen.
On the index board, FBMT 100 Index decreased 22.78 points to 11,120.77, FBM Emas Index was 25.12 points lower at 11,462.83, FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 39.73 points to 12,075.44, FBM 70 slipped 37.02 points to 13,739.46, while FBM ACE added 1.37 points to 5,795.86.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index reduced 9.58 points to 16,746.29 and the Industrial Products and Services Index dropped 0.31 of-a-point to 213.77, while the Plantation Index rose 4.60 points to 8,479.56. — Bernama
