Bursa Malaysia remained under pressure at midday on Sept 15, with the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) falling 12.44 points to 1,685.57 as broad-based selling reflected cautious sentiment ahead of the Malaysia Day holiday.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI stood at 1,685.57 compared to its close of 1,698.01 on Sept 14, after trading between 1,683.38 and 1,694.91 during the morning session.
Weakness extended across the key indices, with the FBM 70 fell 74.53 points to 17,615.56, after moving between 17,609.93 and 17,705.29. The F4GBM dropped 6.59 points to 1,012.20, with an intraday high of 1,017.31 and low of 1,011.13.
The FBM Emas shed 78.75 points to 12,481.16, after trading between 12,470.09 and 12,537.94, while the FBM Shariah declined 78.97 points to 12,333.80, having touched a high of 12,412.66 and a low of 12,322.24.
Market breadth was firmly negative, with 628 losers outpacing 315 gainers, while 522 counters were unchanged, 1,378 untraded and 13 suspended.
Among the top losers, Nestle (M) Bhd fell 32 sen to RM90.98, making it the biggest decliner by value at midday, followed by Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, which dropped 26 sen to RM12.52, while Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd and Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd each lost 24 sen to RM31 and RM39.76, respectively. Rounding up the top five losers at midday was Petronas Gas Bhd, which slipped 20 sen to RM17.20.
On the upside, United Plantations Bhd led the gainers with a 40 sen advance to RM33.50, followed by Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, which climbed 36 sen to RM22.86.
Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd rose 26 sen to RM23.50, while Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd gained 18 sen to RM6.39. Westports Holdings Bhd added 11 sen to RM6.83.
Zetrix AI Bhd was the most actively traded counter, with about 306.74 million shares changing hands, rising one sen to 25.5 sen after trading between 25 sen and 27 sen. Newly ACE Market listed Butterfield FB Bhd was next with roughly 62.84 million shares traded, falling seven sen to 41 sen.
Top Glove Corporation Bhd saw around 49.86 million shares transacted, easing 1.5 sen to 81.5 sen, while MQ Technology Bhd was unchanged at 5.5 sen on about 43 million shares.
Ni Hsin Group Bhd was also unchanged at 29 sen, with approximately 27.92 million shares traded.
Turnover stood at 1.95 billion shares worth RM1.36 billion.
With selling pressure spread across the broader market and investors heading into the public holiday, trading remained defensive heading into the midday break.
