BURSA MALAYSIA SLIPS AT MIDDAY ON PROFIT-TAKING

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia slipped in late-morning trade as investors booked profits, mainly in consumer products, plantation and utilities stocks.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 4.82 points, or 0.30 per cent, to 1,608.74 from Tuesday’s close of 1,613.56.

The benchmark opened 1.01 points higher at 1,614.57 and traded between 1,606.44 and 1,617.02 throughout the morning trading session.

Market breadth was negative with 541 losers outpacing 301 gainers. A total of 467 counters were unchanged, 1,427 untraded, and 77 suspended.

Turnover reached 1.61 billion shares, valued at RM1.12 billion.

In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said sentiment on the local bourse is expected to improve and gain further clarity following the conclusion of the meeting between United States President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The meeting between the two leaders is scheduled to take place tomorrow (Oct 30), on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Busan, South Korea.

The brokerage added that traders may look for entry opportunities, noting that selected technology-related stocks could continue to benefit from the growing demand for data storage.

Among the heavyweights, Tenaga Nasional added two sen to RM13.24, while Maybank and Public Bank eased two sen each to RM9.86 and RM4.19 respectively, IHH Healthcare slipped four sen to RM8.24, and CIMB Group was unchanged at RM7.39.

On the most active list, Borneo Oil was unchanged at half-a-sen, while Perak Transit and Zetrix AI fell two sen each to 37.5 sen and 81.5 sen, respectively. Tanco Holdings added two sen to 92.5 sen, and Ekovest slid 1.5 sen to 36.5 sen.

Among the top gainers, Nestle advanced RM2.60 to RM109.70, Malayan Cement rose 28 sen to RM6.70, Chin Teck improved 26 sen to RM11.26, Dufu Technology rose 15 sen to RM1.88, and Pentamaster added 12 sen to RM4.43.

As for the top losers, Petronas Dagangan fell 32 sen to RM22.14, Bintulu Port eased 26 sen to RM5, Kuala Lumpur Kepong slipped 22 sen to RM20.64, Petronas Gas declined 10 sen to RM18.50, and Ecomate Holdings was eight sen lower at RM1.44.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 33.92 points to 12,032.17, the FBMT 100 Index eased 35.80 points to 11,771.56, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 38.54 points to 12,113.47, the FBM 70 Index dropped 54.21 points to 17,129.31, and the FBM ACE Index weakened 22 points to 5,158.25.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index shed 20.61 points to 18,172.69, the Energy Index lost 4.76 points to 768.32, and the Plantation Index slipped 23.45 points to 7,955.63, while the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.20 points to 171.15.

-- BERNAMA