Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia continued its downtrend at midday as profit-taking activities persisted in selected blue-chip counters, particularly within the financial services sector. At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 0.7 percent or 12.41 points to 1,758.84 from Tuesday's close of 1,771.25. The barometer index opened 1.46 points lower at 1,769.79 and fluctuated between 1,756.46 and 1,769.90 during the morning trading session.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, market breadth was negative with 769 losers outpacing 330 gainers, while 483 counters remained unchanged, 1,167 were untraded, and 94 were suspended. Turnover stood at 2.13 billion units, valued at RM2.12 billion.
Mohd Sedek Jantan, IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist, indicated that investors are taking a short-term pause after the index surpassed the 1,760 level, breaking a near-term tactical resistance. He noted that while some market participants are monitoring upcoming United States Federal Reserve announcements, the market's pullback is largely attributed to profit-taking. Despite the downturn, Asian indices have outperformed the US so far this January, and foreign inflows remain positive, suggesting that the market weakness is temporary.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank added two sen to RM11.78 and IHH Healthcare gained 17 sen to RM8.88, while Public Bank shed five sen to RM4.95, CIMB decreased by 20 sen to RM8.75, and Tenaga Nasional dropped two sen to RM14.10.
On the most active list, ISF Group rose 15.5 sen to 48.5 sen, Zetrix AI increased half-a-sen to 82.5 sen, and Tanco Holdings advanced one sen to RM1.34, while Velesto Energy decreased 1.5 sen to 30 sen.
Among the top gainers, Dutch Lady Milk Industries rose 70 sen to RM33.72, Kuala Lumpur Kepong advanced 24 sen to RM20.06, Allianz Malaysia gained 22 sen to RM23.22, and Country View increased 18 sen to RM3.14.
As for the top decliners, Nestle fell RM1.00 to RM114.60, Malaysian Pacific Industries declined 46 sen to RM32.76, Fraser and Neave Holdings lost 30 sen to RM35.70, and United Plantations dropped 28 sen to RM30.50.
On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index decreased 89.07 points to 12,675.01, the FBM Emas Index fell 93.15 points to 12,861.55, the FBM Mid 70 Index was down 122.07 points to 17,592.00, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 85.02 points to 12,403.19, and the FBM ACE Index dropped 74.54 points to 4,761.04.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index contracted 129.26 points to 21,584.40, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 1.74 points to 178.19, the Energy Index dropped 13.60 points to 754.91, and the Plantation Index declined 13.38 points to 8,424.68.