Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia's key index experienced a downturn at mid-morning, influenced by selected heavyweights, particularly in the utilities, construction, and financial services sectors. At 11 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) decreased by 7.68 points to 1,734.04 from the previous close of 1,741.72. The benchmark index had initially opened 1.98 points higher at 1,743.70.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the broader market displayed a negative trend with the number of losers exceeding gainers at 680 to 287. Meanwhile, 490 counters remained unchanged, 1,396 were untraded, and 98 were suspended. The turnover was recorded at 2.31 billion units valued at RM1.34 million.
In terms of heavyweights, Maybank saw an increase of six sen to RM10.68, and IHH Healthcare rose by seven sen to RM8.22. Public Bank remained steady at RM5, while CIMB Group fell by seven sen to RM8, and Tenaga Nasional dropped 18 sen to RM14.12.
On the list of most active stocks, JAKS Resources and AIMFLEX remained stable at 12.5 sen and 13 sen, respectively. Zetrix AI decreased by three sen to 29.5 sen, with Oppstar and Tanco both declining by 1.5 sen to 80 sen and 19 sen, respectively.
Among the top gainers, United Plantations saw a rise of 74 sen to RM32.02, Spritzer increased by 31 sen to RM3.53, while Ta Ann and FCW each gained 15 sen to reach RM6.20 and RM1.75, respectively. MBM Resources improved by 14 sen to RM5.18.
Conversely, Nestle led the list of top losers, dropping RM1.70 to RM101.30. Malaysian Pacific Industries decreased by 96 sen to RM41.86, MISC fell by 52 sen to RM7.96, Vitrox went down by 14 sen to RM9.36, and Padini declined by 13 sen to RM1.21.
Bursa Malaysia also announced a suspension of short selling under the Intraday Short Selling (IDSS) mechanism for Zetrix AI's shares for the remainder of the trading day after a significant price drop. The short selling under IDSS is set to resume on September 1 at 8.30 am.
On the index board, the FBM Mid 70 Index decreased by 210.52 points to 18,064.64, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell by 102.96 points to 12,593.96, and the FBM Emas Index declined by 80.07 points to 12,812.04. Additionally, the FBM Top 100 Index lost 78.76 points to 12,622.50, and the FBM ACE Index went down by 79.22 points to 5,273.00.
By sector, the Plantation Index increased by 26.22 points to 9,369.43. In contrast, the Financial Services Index decreased by 30.47 points to 20,342.81. The Industrial Products and Services Index slightly edged down by 0.19 points to 189.19, while the Energy Index decreased by 7.91 points to 777.15.