KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session lower, weighed down by selling pressure in selected heavyweights, particularly in the industrial products, utilities, and financial sectors.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 8.39 points to 1,749.59, compared with Monday’s close of 1,757.98.
The benchmark opened 1.99 points lower at 1,755.99 and fluctuated between 1,747.68 and 1,756.00 during the session.
Losers outnumbered gainers 634 to 326 on the broader market, while 491 counters were unchanged, 1,317 untraded, and 26 suspended.
Market turnover totalled 1.22 billion shares valued at RM1.15 billion.
In a research note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the upcoming initial public offering (IPO) of Sunway Healthcare this Friday is expected to support overall market sentiment.
It added that buying interest was also evident in other healthcare counters, including KPJ Healthcare Bhd and IHH Healthcare Bhd, ahead of the listing.
Among heavyweights, Maybank rose six sen to RM12.26, Public Bank eased one sen to RM5.07, CIMB Group fell six sen to RM8.44, Tenaga Nasional declined six sen to RM14.08, while IHH Healthcare gained eight sen to RM9.08.
On the most active list, Pharmaniaga slipped one sen to 30.5 sen, Tanco added one sen to RM1.49, Zetrix fell one sen to 82 sen, Astro Malaysia remained unchanged at 8.5 sen, and Bina Puri edged down half a sen to 29.5 sen.
Top gainers included Fraser & Neave, which advanced 56 sen to RM33.56, Vstecs rose 22 sen to RM4.49, Sunway Construction gained 18 sen to RM6.49, UMS Integration added 15 sen to RM4.15, and UWC improved 14 sen to RM4.32.
Top losers included Nestle, which dropped RM2.70 to RM109.70, Kuala Lumpur Kepong fell 34 sen to RM19.66, United Plantations lost 32 sen to RM30.00, Petronas Dagangan declined 28 sen to RM20.70, and Knusford slid 22 sen to 45.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index fell 58.22 points to 12,650.33, the FBM Emas Index declined 59.31 points to 12,827.40, the FBM 70 Index dropped 70.78 points to 17,747.38, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slid 80.06 points to 12,336.99, and the FBM ACE Index eased 11.56 points to 4,837.12.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index fell 28.27 points to 21,623.44, the Plantation Index slipped 72.06 points to 8,417.24, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 2.35 points to 173.18, and the Energy Index declined 5.79 points to 764.51.
-- BERNAMA
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