BURSA Malaysia ended the morning trading session easier as buying interspersed with selling in heavyweight stocks, dealers said.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.18 of-a-point easier at 1,500.11 from last Friday’s closing of 1,500.29.

The benchmark index opened 13.77 points lower at 1,486.52, subsequently moving between 1,481.79 and 1,506.55 throughout the session.

On the broader market, losers trumped gainers 602 to 223, while 311 counters were unchanged, 1,223 untraded and 81 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.19 billion units worth RM825.14 million.

A dealer said Bursa Malaysia opened sharply lower but turned positive at mid-morning on bargain hunting in selected heavyweights, led by the plantation, consumer products and financial heavyweights, before succumbing to selling pressure at midday.

“Meanwhile, Asian shares were in the red, tracking the Wall Street’s slump last Friday following the US Federal Reserve’s chair, Jerome Powell’s hawkish remark on high-interest rates to curb inflation. This will continue to fuel market volatility,” the dealer noted.

Regionally, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.7% to 20,029.31, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 2.71% to 27,866.01, Singapore’s Straits Times Index slid 0.96% to 3,218.22 and South Korea’s Kospi declined 2.31% to 2,423.71.

Back home, market heavyweights Malayan Banking Bhd added two sen to RM8.93, Public Bank Bhd gained one sen to RM4.64 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd rose six sen to RM8.75.

CIMB Group Holdings Bhd shed six sen to RM5.40 and IHH Healthcare Bhd lost five sen to RM6.30.

Of the actives, MyEG Services Bhd declined two sen to 73.5 sen, Dagang NeXchange Bhd and Jade Marvel Group Bhd slid 2.5 sen each to 85 sen and 81 sen respectively while Agmo Holdings Bhd added 1.5 sen to 91 sen and China Automobile Parts Holdings Ltd was flat at one sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 33.02 points to 10,615.82, the FBM T100 Index lost 26.58 points to 10,366.78, the FBM 70 tumbled 134.79 points to 12,611.36, the FBM ACE went down 84.55 points to 4,871.82 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index gave up 42.68 points to 10,717.29.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index was 39.27 points higher at 7,093.61 and the Energy Index added 1.66 points to 729.1, while the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.44 of-a-point to 181.74 and the Financial Services Index trimmed 1.13 points to 16,722.56. — Bernama / Pic by Bernama