BURSA MALAYSIA SLIPS AT MIDDAY DUE TO PROFIT-TAKING

By Karina Imran

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 (Bernama)  -- Bursa Malaysia continued its downtrend at midday as profit-taking activities continued in selected blue-chip counters, led by the financial services stocks. 

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 0.7 per cent or 12.41 points to 1,758.84 from Tuesday's close of 1,771.25. 

The barometer index opened 1.46 points lower at 1,769.79, and moved between 1,756.46 and 1,769.90 throughout the morning trading session.

Market breadth was negative with losers leading gainers 769 to 330, while 483 counters were unchanged, 1,167 untraded and 94 suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.13 billion units, valued at RM2.12 billion.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist, Mohd Sedek Jantan said investors are taking a short-term pause after the index broke above the 1,760 level recently, breaching a near-term tactical resistance.

"While some have cited the need to monitor upcoming United States (US) Federal Reserve announcements, the market’s pullback is largely due to profit-taking. 

"In fact, most Asian markets are in the red. However, Asian indices have outperformed the US so far this January," he told Bernama, noting that foreign inflows remain firmly positive, indicating that the weakness in the market is only temporary. 

Among heavyweights, Maybank added two sen to RM11.78 and IHH Healthcare gained 17 sen to RM8.88, while Public Bank shed five sen to RM4.95, CIMB declined by 20 sen to RM8.75, and Tenaga Nasional decreased by two sen to RM14.10.

On the most active list, ISF Group added 15.5 sen to 48.5 sen, Zetrix AI gained half-a-sen to 82.5 sen, and Tanco Holdings increased one sen to RM1.34, while Velesto Energy reduced 1.5 sen to 30 sen. 

Among the top gainers, Dutch Lady Milk Industries increased 70 sen to RM33.72, Kuala Lumpur Kepong advanced 24 sen to RM20.06, Allianz Malaysia put on 22 sen to RM23.22 and Country View perked up 18 sen to RM3.14.

As for the top decliners, Nestle dropped RM1.00 to RM114.60, Malaysian Pacific Industries gave up 46 sen to RM32.76, Fraser & Neave Holdings shed 30 sen to RM35.70 and United Plantations dipped 28 sen to RM30.50. 

On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index shaved 89.07 points to 12,675.01, the FBM Emas Index declined 93.15 points to 12,861.55, the FBM Mid 70 Index was 122.07 points lower at 17,592.00, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 85.02 points to 12,403.19, and the FBM ACE Index shed 74.54 points to 4,761.04.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index contracted 129.26 points to 21,584.40, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 1.74 points to 178.19, the Energy Index dropped 13.60 points to 754.91 and the Plantation Index declined 13.38 points to 8,424.68.

-- BERNAMA