KUALA LUMPUR, April 12 ― Bursa Malaysia continued to trade lower at mid-afternoon alongside most of its regional peers.

At the time of writing, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 2.0 per cent to 16,752.87, South Korea’s Kospi Index dropped 0.93 per cent to 2,681.82, Singapore’s Straits Times Index was 0.28 per cent lower to 3,218.43, China's SSE Composite Index dipped 0.6 per cent 3,016.06 and the Australian market was also down.

Meanwhile Japan's Nikkei 225 Index added 0.21 per cent to 39,523.55

At 3.06pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) trimmed 3.90 points or 0.25 per cent to 1,549.61 from Tuesday's close of 1,553.51.

The benchmark index opened 0.58 of a point higher at 1,554.09

On the broader market, decliners thumped gainers 544 to 490, while 443 counters were unchanged, 866 untraded and 11 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 2.68 billion units worth RM1.84 billion.

Among the heavyweights, Public Bank was down 2.0 sen to RM4.17, Petronas Chemicals dipped 5.0 sen RM6.72, Maybank added 3.0 sen RM9.66 ,CIMB Group gained 5.0 sen RM6.62 and Tenaga Nasional was 4.0 sen up at RM11.70.

Among the actives, Harvest Miracle Capital firmed half sen to 12 sen, Dagang Nexchange surged 4.0 sen to 41.5 sen, RGB International climbed 2.0 sen to 38 sen, while Velesto Energy dipped 0.5 sen to 27.5 sen and Bina Puri Holdings was flat at 8 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased by 13.92 points to 11,687.22, the FBMT 100 Index went down 14.90 points to 11,320.56 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased by 14.86 points to 11,850.34.

However, the FBM 70 Index rose by 34.13 points to 16,399.93 and the FBM ACE Index climbed 45.96 points to 5,057.12.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slid 5.45 points to 17,238.07, the Plantation Index dropped 49.63 points to 7,429.19, the Energy Index decreased by 3.44 points to 967.45 and the Industrial Products and Services Index advanced 0.75 of a point to 184.56.

Bursa Malaysia and its subsidiaries were closed on Wednesday and Thursday (April 10 and April 11) in conjunction with the Hari Raya Aidilfitri holidays. ― Bernama