KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia continued to trade lower at mid-afternoon due to persistent selling in plantation and energy stocks, said analysts.
At 3.07 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 5.49 points, to 1,514.50 from Monday’s close of 1,519.99.
The benchmark index opened 1.17 points lower at 1,518.82.
Market breadth was negative, with 499 decliners leading 313 gainers, while 452 counters were unchanged, 1,152 untraded and 22 suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.41 billion shares worth RM1.15 billion.
Maybank Investment Bank Bhd in a note said on a technical perspective, it expects the benchmark index to range between 1,510 and 1,530 points today, with supports remaining at 1,500 and 1,440 points.
Among the heavyweights, SD Guthrie fell 10 sen to RM4.60, IOI Corp shaved 6.0 sen to RM3.66, Petronas Chemicals slid 5.0 sen to RM3.35, Axiata dropped 3.0 sen to RM2.12, and Hong Leong Financial Group slipped 22 sen to RM15.82.
As for the most active stocks, Borneo Oil and Velesto Energy dipped half-a-sen each to half-a-sen and 18.5 sen respectively, Top Glove decreased 4.0 sen to 71.5 sen, Tanco added 2.0 sen to 97.5 sen, and MYEG rose half-a-sen to 93.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slid 40.02 points to 11,320.77 and the FBMT 100 Index slipped 37.18 points to 11,101.17.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index shed 32.94 points to 11,340.72, the FBM ACE Index shrank 33.63 points to 4,438.18, and the FBM 70 Index decreased 42.22 points to 16,241.23.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index tumbled 80.47 points to 7,269.80 and the Energy Index sank 15.61 points to 736.55.
The Financial Services Index gave up 98.93 points to 17,402.07, and the Industrial Products and Services Index decreased by 0.69 of-a-point to 150.44.
