Kuala Lumpur: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session lower today due to mild profit-taking in selected heavyweights, while investors remained cautious over the global economic outlook. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell by 0.19 percent, or 2.97 points, closing at 1,546.93 compared to the previous day’s close of 1,549.93.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the benchmark index initially opened slightly higher at 1,550.21 and fluctuated between 1,541.45 and 1,551.59 throughout the session. The market experienced a slightly negative breadth, with 402 decliners surpassing 400 gainers. Meanwhile, 437 counters remained unchanged, 1,112 were untraded, and nine were suspended. The turnover was recorded at 2.17 billion shares valued at RM1.33 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng commented to Bernama that despite the US Federal Reserve maintaining interest rates for now, Wall Street closed on a positive note overnight. He added that traders are hopeful for potential moves by Beijing to reduce both the Reserve Requirement Ratio and interest rates, which could further stimulate the equity market.

Among the top heavyweights, Maybank saw a decline of eight sen to RM9.92, CIMB decreased by three sen to RM6.92, while Tenaga Nasional and IHH Healthcare showed gains of 14 sen to RM14.30 and 2.0 sen to RM7.02, respectively. Public Bank remained unchanged at RM4.47.

In active trading, Nationgate rose by 11 sen to RM1.60, Tanco increased by 1.5 sen to 91.5 sen, and YTL Corp advanced eight sen to RM2.13. In contrast, the newly listed Fibromat experienced a decline of six sen to 49 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dropped by 9.59 points to 11,510, while the FBMT 100 Index fell by 9.82 points to 11,281.49. The FBM Emas Shariah Index eased by 3.95 points to 11,434.06. The FBM 70 Index, however, advanced by 32.96 points to 16,277.20, whereas the FBM ACE Index slipped by 10.70 points to 4,640.91.

Across various sectors, the Financial Services Index decreased by 68.32 points to 18,120.29, the Energy Index slid by 1.14 points to 683.91, and the Plantation Index dropped by 72.28 points to 7,233.01. The Industrial Products and Services Index saw a minor increase of 0.35 of a point, reaching 152.64.