Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia pared its losses at the lunch break as bargain hunting emerged in selected heavyweight stocks, led by Petronas Chemicals, Tenaga Nasional, and Kuala Lumpur Kepong.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, at 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was down 1.86 points at 1,677.10, from Wednesday's close of 1,678.96. The benchmark index opened 1.58 points lower at 1,677.38 and fluctuated between 1,674.65 and 1,680.30 during the morning session.
However, market breadth remained negative with losers outnumbering gainers 582 to 407, while 491 counters were unchanged, 1,211 untraded, and 21 suspended. Turnover stood at 1.96 billion shares worth RM1.10 billion.
Malacca Securities, in a research note, anticipated Bursa Malaysia to track the continued sell-off in the United States and undergo renewed selling pressure, creating buy-on-dip opportunities in banking stocks. The firm noted that the rebound in crude oil prices should benefit oil- and chemical-related companies, including Petronas Chemicals, Heng Yuan, and Hibiscus Petroleum.
The firm also expressed continued favor for the plantation sector, supported by Indonesia's aggressive rollout of the B45/B50 biodiesel mandate and the expected impact of El Ni±o in the coming months.
Regionally, Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 0.07 per cent to 4,962.17, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 1.11 per cent to 24,136.17, South Korea's benchmark Kospi added 0.31 per cent to 7,755.12, and Japan's Nikkei added 0.28 per cent to 64,361.11.
Among heavyweights, Maybank was flat at RM10.68, Public Bank lost four sen to RM4.76, Tenaga Nasional added 12 sen to RM14.34, CIMB was five sen lower at RM7.35, and IHH Healthcare slid six sen to RM8.61.
Active stocks saw Zetrix ease three sen to 81.5 sen, VS Industry trimmed one sen to 20 sen, while ACE Market debutant MM Computer Systems and Hong Seng remained flat at 22 sen and one sen, respectively.
Top gainers included Nestle, which added 98 sen to RM94.76, Kuala Lumpur Kepong, which was 34 sen better at RM20.82, Batu Kawan, which advanced 32 sen to RM20.60, Fraser and Neave, which rose 26 sen to RM26.04, and Hong Leong Industries, which gained 24 sen to RM18.24.
Meanwhile, among the top losers, BLD Plantation slipped 70 sen to RM14.30, Ideal Capital shed 60 sen to RM3.50, and United Plantation lost 54 sen to RM31.76.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 25.45 points to 12,431.03, the FBM Top 100 Index eased 24.35 points to 12,277.87, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index edged down 7.69 points to 12,408.80. The FBM Mid 70 Index dropped 81.53 points to 17,870.36, while the FBM ACE Index fell 22.17 points to 4,638.48.
By sector, the Financial Services Index declined 69.52 points to 19,512.89, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.30 points to 198.13, the Energy Index gained 4.09 points to 782.86, and the Plantation Index added 2.85 points to 8,797.07.