Bursa Malaysia lower at mid-day amid lockdown worries

At lunch break, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) erased 2.19 points to 1,600.76 after fluctuating within a tight range of between 1,596.88 and 1,606.96 throughout the session. ― Picture by Hari Anggara

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session lower due to selling pressure in heavyweights and small capitalisation stocks, as investors remained concerned on a possible lockdown due to surging daily Covid-19 cases locally.

At lunch break, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) erased 2.19 points to 1,600.76 after fluctuating within a tight range of between 1,596.88 and 1,606.96 throughout the session.

On the broader market, losers trumped gainers 705 to 359, while 388 counters were unchanged, 632 untraded and 13 others suspended.

Volume stood at 3.86 billion units worth RM2.44 billion.

A dealer said despite a bullish overnight Wall Street performance that sent the majority of Asian stocks on an upward trajectory, the local bourse moved in the opposite direction on the anticipation that a lockdown might curtail further recovery and growth.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank trimmed 12 sen to RM8.16, Tenaga lost 18 sen to RM10.34, IHH Healthcare eased six sen to RM5.64, while Public Bank was flat at RM20.40.

On the contrary, Petronas Chemicals rose 32 sen to RM7.37 and Top Glove bagged 23 sen to RM6.03.

Of the actives, AT Systematization inched up half-a-sen to 18.5 sen, GPA added one sen to 11.5 sen, PNE picked up 14.5 sen to 69.5 sen, Key Alliance was flat at five sen, while Vortex shed one sen to five sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 31.93 points lower at 12,919.23, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 30.02 points to 11,231.22, and the FBM 70 fell 95.98 points to 14,460.44.

However, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 3.91 points to 12,931.79 and the FBM ACE advanced 59.93 points to 10,600.9.

Meanwhile, the Financial Services Index contracted 99.04 points to 14,868.95, the Plantation Index lost 15.84 points to 7,404.2, while the Industrial Products and Services Index added 1.95 points to 173.76. ― Bernama

Source: Malay Mail