BURSA MALAYSIA WEAKER AT MIDDAY AMID THIN HOLIDAY TRADING

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 26 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia extended its downtrend to end the morning session lower at midday, weighed by continued profit-taking amid thin holiday trading and mixed regional sentiment.

At 12.30 pm, the barometer index fell 7.07 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 1,671.24 from Wednesday’s close of 1,678.31.

The benchmark index, which opened 0.81 of-a-point weaker at 1,677.50, moved between 1,670.83 and 1,677.53 throughout the session.

In the broader market, decliners outpaced gainers 436  to 266, while 469 counters were unchanged, 1,603 were untraded, and 60 were suspended.

Turnover amounted to 785.79 million units valued at RM586.71 million.

Public Investment Bank Bhd noted that trading was extremely thin as markets were closed for the Christmas holiday.

“Trading volumes are likely to remain light this week, as most investors having closed out their positions for this year,” it said in a note.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank lost 10 sen to RM10.38, Public Bank fell three sen to RM4.49 and IHH Healthcare decreased 11 sen to RM8.56. CIMB added three sen to RM8.14 and Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM13.60.

On the most active list, Tanco perked up three sen to RM1.14, Velesto edged up half-a-sen to 28 sen, while Avangaad and Bina Puri were flat at 32 sen and 29.5 sen, respectively. Zetrix AI eased one sen to 81 sen.

Among the top gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries rose 36 sen to RM32.78, Malayan Cement jumped 30 sen to RM7.64, Fraser & Neave climbed 20 sen to RM36.20, Hume Cement increased 17 sen to RM3.32, and PIE Industrial was 10 sen firmer at RM2.74.

As for the top losers, Hong Leong Industries and BLD Plantation shaved 12 sen each to RM16.48 and RM15.18, respectively, PLB Engineering shed 10.5 sen to 89.5 sen, while Petronas Gas trimmed 10 sen to RM18.18.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slid 44.42 points to 12,261.49, the FBMT 100 Index declined 45.68 points to 12,061.86, the FBM Emas Shariah Index dipped 48.56 points to 12,086.07, and the FBM 70 Index slipped 39.52 points to 16,823.0.

In contrast, the FBM ACE Index advanced by 26.45 points to 4,854.62.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index dropped by 38.36 points to 8,240.55, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.13 of-a-point to 173.88, the Energy Index shed 0.25 of-a-point to 766.43, and the Financial Services Index gave up 59.67 points to 19,564.32.

-- BERNAMA