KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia remained lower at mid-morning, weighed down by selling in selected heavyweights, led by healthcare, industrial products and utilities counters.
At 11 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 11.73 points to 1,639.44 from Wednesday’s close of 1,651.17, after opening 1.30 points lower at 1,649.87.
Of the healthcare stocks, IHH Healthcare slipped 13 sen to RM7.70, while for the industrial products sector, Petronas Chemicals shed 11 sen to RM4.07, Press Metal Aluminium decreased nine sen to RM7.36 and Sunway slipped two sen to RM4.40.
As for the utilities counters, YTL Power fell six sen to RM5.81, YTL Corporation edged down one sen to RM2.27 and Tenaga Nasional shed two sen to RM12.94.
On the broader market, decliners outpaced gainers 484 to 273, with 460 counters unchanged, 1,556 untraded and 12 suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.18 billion shares worth RM769.76 million.
Hong Leong Investment Bank, in a note, said that with the US-Iran impasse and the Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance persisting, the benchmark index could extend its risk-off consolidation amid elevated oil prices and bond yields, as well as continued foreign outflows.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB fell two sen each to RM9.97 and RM7.77 respectively, while Public Bank declined three sen to RM4.67.
In active trade, Zetrix AI firmed half a sen to 16.5 sen, V.S Industry gained one sen to 29 sen, Jaks Resources declined half a sen to 20 sen, ACE Market debutant GB Bond fell 2.5 sen to 22.5 sen and Dagang Nexchange added two sen to 50.5 sen.
Among the top gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries advanced 62 sen to RM41.02, Malayan Cement rose 12 sen to RM5.57, MI Technovation and Hengyuan Refining accumulated 10 sen each to RM5.30 and RM3.66 respectively and Vitrox strengthened eight sen to RM9.99.
Kuala Lumpur Kepong led the decliners, falling 74 sen to RM21.46. Allianz Malaysia shed 68 sen to RM20.94, Nestle fell 40 sen to RM89.60, United Plantations shed 30 sen to RM31.26 and Hong Leong Bank lost 28 sen to RM22.86.
On the index board, the FBM Mid 70 Index fell 71.17 points to 17,503.50, the FBM Emas Index declined 72.18 points to 12,219.83 and the FBM Top 100 Index shed 76.32 points to 12,008.12.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index weakened 71.61 points to 12,104.73, while the FBM ACE Index trimmed 22.64 points to 5,511.64.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 1.24 points to 179.17, the Energy Index eased 5.43 points to 840.27, the Financial Services Index fell 87.09 points to 19,129.40 and the Plantation Index retreated 104.26 points to 9,092.41.
-- BERNAMA