Bursa Malaysia remained under pressure at midday on Aug 19, tracking overnight weakness on Wall Street and softer regional markets as escalating tensions in West Asia kept investors cautious.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 3.86 points, or 0.22%, to 1,729.50, from its close of 1,733.36 in the previous trading session. The index traded between 1,725.95 and 1,733.44 during the morning session.
The weakness extended across the broader market as the FBM 70 declined 67.18 points, or 0.37%, to 18,144.48, while the F4GBM eased 2.86 points, or 0.27%, to 1,037.96. The FBM Emas shed 33.45 points, or 0.26%, to 12,796.25, while the FBM Shariah slipped 30.80 points, or 0.24%, to 12,635.94.
Market breadth was firmly negative, with 633 losers outpacing 364 gainers, while 503 counters were unchanged, 1,373 untraded and 16 suspended.
Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd topped the losers, dropping RM1.66 to RM46.36, followed by United Plantations Bhd, which fell 42 sen to RM32.18. MI Technovation Bhd declined 23 sen to RM6.22, while AMMB Holdings Bhd and BLD Plantation Bhd each shed 20 sen to RM7.03 and RM14.80, respectively.
On the upside, Nestle (M) Bhd led gainers with a 40 sen rise to RM104.10, while Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd advanced 38 sen to RM31.88. Petronas Dagangan Bhd gained 30 sen to RM19.66, Petronas Gas Bhd added 16 sen to RM17.60 and IHH Healthcare climbed 14 sen to RM8.29.
Meanwhile, Zetrix AI Bhd was the most actively traded counter, with 112.45 million shares changing hands. The stock gained 1.5 sen to 65 sen after trading between 63 sen and 66 sen.
Jaks Resources Bhd followed with 60.01 million shares traded, ending flat at 13 sen, while Pentamaster Corp Bhd rose 3.5 sen to 32.5 sen on 41.09 million shares. Ho Wah Genting Bhd gained half a sen to 10.5 sen on 37.30 million shares, while Nexgram Holdings Bhd slipped half a sen to 5.5 sen with 36.55 million shares traded.
Turnover stood at 1.91 billion units worth RM1.31 billion.
With geopolitical concerns weighing on sentiment and regional equities remaining subdued, investors are likely to stay defensive heading into the afternoon session.
