Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia remained lower at mid-afternoon, affected by profit-taking in selected heavyweights as investors awaited new catalysts.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, at 3.02 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) decreased by 6.57 points to 1,617.93 from the previous day's close of 1,624.50. The benchmark index had initially opened 2.66 points higher at 1,627.16. The market saw negative breadth with 657 decliners surpassing 379 gainers, while 512 stocks remained unchanged, 1,228 were untraded, and 95 were suspended. Turnover was at 3.34 billion units worth RM1.75 billion.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank remained unchanged at RM9.98, while Tenaga Nasional gained six sen to RM13.18, and IHH increased by 22 sen to RM8.29. In contrast, Public Bank fell by two sen to RM4.36, and CIMB declined by nine sen to RM7.51.
On the most active list, MTouche fell by 1.5 sen to four sen, and Zetrix lost one sen to 82.5 sen. Meanwhile, Tanco rose by one sen to RM1.10, and Nationgate and V.S. Industries remained unchanged at 99.5 sen and 48 sen, respectively.
Top gainers included F and N, which rose by 72 sen to RM34.32, and Dutch Lady, which increased by 46 sen to RM29.60. Time Dotcom added 47 sen to RM5.24, BLD Plantation gained 30 sen to RM14.90, and Allianz went up by 26 sen to RM18.80.
Among the top losers, Nestle dropped 90 sen to RM108.90, Petronas Dagangan decreased by 76 sen to RM20.06, and Petronas Gas slipped by 34 sen to RM17.94. Additionally, KL Kepong eased 34 sen to RM20.26, and Sunway fell by 17 sen to RM5.38.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell by 22.54 points to 12,026.94, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined by 3.04 points to 11,997.65, and the FBMT 100 Index slid by 22.42 points to 11,806.83. Meanwhile, the FBM ACE Index dropped 58.54 points to 4,845.90, and the FBM Mid 70 Index advanced by 78.22 points to 17,042.00.
In sectoral performance, the Financial Services Index fell by 56.48 points to 18,593.78, and the Plantation Index lost 56.67 points to 8,142.45. Conversely, the Energy Index rose marginally by 0.27 of-a-point to 755.56, and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased by 0.32 of-a-point to 164.40.