Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session on a weaker note, driven by continued profit-taking in utilities and financial services counters. At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 2.90 points to 1,547.31 from Wednesday’s close of 1,550.21. The benchmark index had opened 4.07 points lower at 1,546.14.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the broader market showed some positivity with 514 gainers leading 371 decliners, while 404 counters remained unchanged, 1,099 were untraded, and 11 were suspended. Turnover stood at 2.37 billion units worth RM1.36 billion. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng noted that the local benchmark index is expected to hover in the 1,545-1,555 range today, as Wall Street closed overnight on a mixed note with traders awaiting June’s big job report. Nonetheless, funds rotated back to tech stocks as Nasdaq ended on a record high, while the US 10-year yield increased to 4.283 percent.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank remained flat at RM9.76, Tenaga Nasional decreased by 62 sen to RM13.98, and Public Bank fell by 2.0 sen to RM4.30. In contrast, CIMB rose by 2.0 sen to RM6.80, and IHH Healthcare improved by 3.0 sen to RM6.86. The most active stocks included Zetrix AI, which added 1.0 sen to 97.5 sen, while NEXG and DNeX earned half-a-sen each to 38.5 sen and 29.5 sen, respectively. Inari Amerton increased by 4.0 sen to RM2.04.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 4.81 points to 11,586.90, the FBMT 100 Index gained 1.21 points to 11,361.98, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased by 6.36 points to 11,593.47. The FBM 70 Index surged 100.45 points to 16,711.69, while the FBM ACE Index rose 30.68 points to 4,509.77. By sector, the Financial Services Index advanced 12.67 points to 17,721.43, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.41 points to 155.88, and the Energy Index fell 2.34 points to 744.83. The Plantation Index trimmed 2.13 points to 7,393.83.