Bursa Malaysia was marginally lower at midday as buying interest interspersed with selling in selected heavyweights, a dealer said.
At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 0.23 point to 1,424.11 from 1,424.34 at Wednesday’s close. The barometer index opened 0.4 point higher at 1,424.74 on Thursday morning.
On the broader market, decliners led gainers 334 to 324, while 402 counters were unchanged, 1,186 untraded and 13 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.35 billion units worth RM766.82 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said market sentiment was restrained due to the lack of fresh catalysts.
“As crude palm oil futures continue to be dampened, we may see some headwinds for planters today (Thursday) as profit-taking activities may emerge.
“Nonetheless, we reckon the index to hover within the 1,420 to 1,430 range today. As for the corporate results, we noticed it had been a mixed bag so far,” he said.
Heavyweight counters Tenaga Nasional Bhd added three sen to RM9.78, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd rose two sen to RM5, Public Bank Bhd was down one sen to RM3.95 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd eased four sen to RM6.94, while Malayan Banking Bhd was flat at RM8.71.
Among the most active counters, Velesto Energy Bhd advanced 1.5 sen to 26.5 sen, Top Glove Corp Bhd increased three sen to RM1.14, Revenue Group Bhd declined half-a-sen to 30.5 sen and Jade Marvel Group Bhd shrank 1.5 sen to 24.5 sen while Tanco Holdings Bhd was flat at 50.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index garnered 8.61 points to 10,450.05, the FBMT 100 Index increased 8.07 points to 10,144.59, the FBM Emas Shariah Index earned 11.35 points to 10,823.01 and the FBM 70 Index went up 51.12 points to 13,635.14.
However, the FBM ACE Index lost 33.87 points to 4,962.91.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.59 of-a-point to 165.83 and the Plantation Index was down 0.42 of-a-point to 7,048.
Meanwhile, the Energy Index perked 15.84 points to 850.41 and the Financial Services Index added 18.79 points to 15,524.4.
