Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index had eased at midday on Monday (April 10), as choppy trading weighed on the benchmark index, amid cautious investor sentiments.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI had slipped by 0.21 of a point to 1,426.83, from last Friday’s closing at 1,427.04.
The barometer index opened 0.85 point higher at 1,427.89, and traded between 1,425.19 and 1,429.42 during the morning trading session.
Market breadth was negative, as decliners surpassed gainers 382 to 304, while 374 counters were unchanged, 1,157 untraded, and 13 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.71 billion units worth RM704.61 million.
In a note on Monday, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said investors may continue to monitor the rising tension between the US and China, while waiting for US inflation data and the Federal Open Market Committee minutes set to be released this week to gauge the US Federal Reserve’s aggressiveness in future rate hikes.
Meanwhile, among the heavyweights, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd ticked up one sen to RM5.17 per share, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) at RM8.66 and Public Bank Bhd at RM3.99 both remained flat, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd declined 10 sen to RM7.40 sen, and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) lost five sen to RM9.18.
As for the actives, Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd gained one sen to 13 sen. Techna-X Bhd at two sen, Zen Tech International Bhd at 2.5 sen and Reach Energy Bhd at five sen were all unchanged. Meta Bright Group Bhd lost half a sen to 18 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index added 11.10 points to 10,489.54, the FBMT 100 Index earned 12.03 points to 10,173.07, the FBM 70 Index rose 72.10 points to 13,710.85, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index perked 12.689 points to 10,835.35, while the FBM ACE Index was 15.36 points lower at 5,311.32.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index advanced 10.52 points to 15,711.79, and the Plantation Index increased 55.22 points to 6,786.89, while the Energy Index dropped 0.51 of a point to 863.00, and the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.58 of a point to 174.17.
