KUALA LUMPUR (July 12): Bursa Malaysia remained on a downtrend at midday on subdued buying interest due to the lack of fresh market catalysts.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 0.37% or 5.63 points to 1,514.95 from Friday’s close of 1,520.58.
The market bellwether opened 1.65 points better at 1,522.23 and oscillated between 1,511.56 and 1,525.42 throughout the morning trading session.
On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 595 to 246, while 401 counters were unchanged, 976 untraded and 10 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.4 billion units worth RM1.26 billion.
CGS-CIMB Futures Sdn Bhd said investors would be monitoring a slew of important economic data this week, including Malaysia’s industrial production index (IPI) and manufacturing sales data, and the wholesale and retail trade performance for May 2021 which have been released today.
“The Statistics Department will also release the salary and wages survey report this Wednesday,” said the brokerage services provider in a note today.
Of the heavyweights, Public Bank Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd gained two sen each to RM4.08 and RM4.51, respectively, while IHH Healthcare Bhd added three sen to RM5.64.
Meanwhile, Malayan Banking Bhd eased six sen to RM8.07, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd declined three sen to RM8.03 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd dropped two sen to RM9.67.
Among the actives, Managepay Systems Bhd added two sen to 27 sen, YBS International Bhd surged 12 sen to 47.5 sen, and Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd added half-a-sen to 46 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 42.15 points lower at 11,027.96, the FBMT 100 Index narrowed 38.9 points to 10,743.02, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 63.05 points to 12,047.73.
The FBM ACE fell 66.29 points to 7,108.75 and the FBM 70 went down 47.59 points to 14,277.34.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index contracted 18.71 points to 14,936.92, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.98 of-a-point to 186.54, and the Plantation Index reduced 49.85 points to 6,240.58.-BERNAMA