Kuala Lumpur:Bursa Malaysia experienced a decline at mid-morning on Tuesday due to mild profit-taking in selected heavyweight counters, coinciding with heightened geopolitical tensions following attacks on Saudi Arabia.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.96 points to 1,617.05 at 11 am, compared to Monday's close of 1,618.01, after opening 1.39 points weaker at 1,616.62. Market breadth was negative, with 752 decliners surpassing 246 gainers. Additionally, 354 counters remained unchanged, 1,474 were untraded, and 21 were suspended. The turnover was recorded at 1.52 billion shares worth RM998.32 million.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank increased by five sen to RM10, Public Bank added three sen to RM4.69, and CIMB gained 11 sen to RM7.41. Conversely, Tenaga Nasional fell by 10 sen to RM12.94, while IHH Healthcare rose by five sen to RM7.95.
In active trading, Hartalega remained stable at RM1.03, Genetec fell by one sen to 30.5 sen, Genting rose five sen to RM1.28, and SMRT decreased by two sen to 15.5 sen. Jati Tinggi slipped by 10 sen to RM1.30.
Hong Leong Industries led the gainers with a 36 sen rise to RM16.44. United Plantations increased by 20 sen to RM30.42, while CIMB Group Holdings went up by 11 sen to RM7.41. Hengyuan Refining Company added 10 sen to RM3.65, with Petron Malaysia climbing eight sen to RM3.42.
Malaysian Pacific led the decliners, dropping RM1.90 to RM41.12, followed by Nestle, which fell 88 sen to RM90.22. UMS Integration tumbled 58 sen to RM8.32, while Vitrox slumped 54 sen to RM10.70. MI Technovation dived 52 sen to RM6.50.
On a broader scale, the FBM Mid 70 Index declined by 206.68 points to 17,275.48, the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 119.75 points to 12,011.32, and the FBM Emas Index decreased by 48.39 points to 12,056.31. The FBM Top 100 Index fell by 43.36 points to 11,844.48, while the FBM ACE Index shed 105.47 points to 5,455.23.
Sector-wise, the Energy Index went down by 2.44 points to 831.72, the Plantation Index slid 24.59 points to 8,787.31, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down by 2.07 points to 178.70. In contrast, the Financial Services Index rose by 132.72 points to 18,726.86.