Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session on a lower note, impacted by continued selling in selected heavyweights, despite positive regional market sentiments.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, at 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 1.18 points to 1,670.11 from Monday's close of 1,671.29. The benchmark index, which started 2.51 points weaker at 1,668.78, fluctuated between 1,666.96 and 1,672.33 during the session.
In the broader market, decliners outnumbered gainers 430 to 343, with 571 counters remaining unchanged, 1,430 untraded, and 12 suspended. The turnover reached 1.0 billion units, valued at RM739.89 million.
A note from Public Investment Bank Bhd highlighted that Asian markets continued to rise, with South Korea's Kospi Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index increasing by 0.34 per cent and 0.18 per cent, respectively. Additionally, it was noted that the US Federal Reserve has commenced its US$40 billion reserve management purchases, which aims to provide liquidity to markets as financial institutions and participants can access short-term funds following a period of tightening.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank saw an increase of two sen to RM10.50, CIMB added one sen to RM8.16, and Tenaga Nasional went up by six sen to RM13.60. In contrast, Public Bank decreased by one sen to RM4.52, and IHH Healthcare dropped two sen to RM8.60.
On the most active list, VS Industry rose by 1.5 sen to 49.5 sen, Tanco went up three sen to RM1.16, and Zetrix AI increased by half a sen to 81 sen, while Pharmaniaga and TWL remained steady at 28 sen and 2.5 sen, respectively.
In terms of top gainers, Nestle surged by 50 sen to RM115.40, PPB climbed 32 sen to RM10.94, Ajinomoto advanced 16 sen to RM13.80, and Southern Acids went up 11 sen to RM3.18.
Conversely, top losers included BLD Plantation, which fell 50 sen to RM15.30, while Petronas Gas and United Plantations each dropped 34 sen to RM17.76 and RM29.56, respectively. MISC declined 18 sen to RM7.51, and Ralco decreased 14 sen to 72 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 2.17 points to 12,262.02; the FBMT 100 Index declined 2.70 points to 12,059.74; the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 1.40 points to 12,060.99; and the FBM ACE Index decreased by 3.51 points to 4,822.39. In contrast, the FBM 70 Index rose 22.67 points to 16,847.40.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index decreased 28.34 points to 8,208.22, the Energy Index reduced by 0.56 of a point to 765.62, the Financial Services Index slid 6.39 points to 19,615.25, and the Industrial Products and Services Index dropped 0.11 of a point to 172.52.