BURSA MALAYSIA ENDS MORNING SESSION EASIER

By Zarul Effendi Razali

KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session lower today on mild profit-taking in selected heavyweights, amid mixed sentiment in the regional markets as investors remained cautious over the global economic outlook, a dealer said.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined by 0.19 per cent, or 2.97 points, to 1,546.93 from Wednesday’s close of 1,549.93.

The benchmark index opened 0.21 of a point higher at 1,550.21 and moved between 1,541.45 and 1,551.59 during the session.

Market breadth was slightly negative, with 402 decliners outpacing 400 gainers, while 437 counters were unchanged, 1,112 untraded, and nine suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.17 billion shares worth RM1.33 billion

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng told Bernama that the overnight Wall Street closed on a positive note, despite the US Federal Reserve (Fed) maintaining interest rates for the time being.

“Traders are also hopeful that Beijing will look to cut both the Reserve Requirement Ratio and interest rates to further boost the equity market,” he said.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank declined eight sen to RM9.92, CIMB slipped three sen to RM6.92, Tenaga Nasional gained 14 sen to RM14.30, and IHH Healthcare added 2.0 sen to RM7.02, while Public Bank was flat at RM4.47.

In active trade, Nationgate improved 11 sen to RM1.60, Tanco went up 1.5 sen to 91.5 sen, YTL Corp advanced eight sen to RM2.13, while the newly listed Fibromat shed six sen to 49 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 9.59 points lower at 11,510, the FBMT 100 Index fell 9.82 points to 11,281.49, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 3.95 points to 11,434.06.

The FBM 70 Index advanced 32.96 points to 16,277.20, but the FBM ACE Index slipped 10.70 points to 4,640.91.

Across sectors, the Financial Services Index dropped 68.32 points to 18,120.29, the Energy Index slid 1.14 points to 683.91, and the Plantation Index decreased 72.28 points to 7,233.01. The Industrial Products and Services Index, however, edged up 0.35 of a point to 152.64.

-- BERNAMA