Bursa declines at mid-day

KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia remained lower at lunch break following choppy trade throughout the morning session.

At 12.30 pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI declined 3.79 points to 1,598.47 from yesterday's close of 1,602.26

The index opened 2.23 points higher at 1,604.49 and moved between 1,604.49 and 1,592.93.

On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 560 to 471 while 527 counters were unchanged, 551 untraded and 17 others suspended.

Volume stood at 5.05 billion worth RM2.68 billion.

An analyst said selloff in the plantation, energy, healthcare sectors widened as selling intensified.

He said cues from regional markets were mixed despite the record highs recorded on Wall Street overnight amid continued optimism over revived US stimulus talks.

He said another round of profit taking activities may be among the reasons for the downtrend following yesterday's strong rebounds.

In addition, he said oil prices remained weak over the delay by OPEC on an output cut decision and unexpected build in oil inventories in the US.

The American Petroleum Institute reported US crude inventories increased by more-than-expected at 4.1 million barrels last week.

Among heavyweights, Axiata and IHH went down 11 sen each to RM3.67 and RM5.52 respectively, while Petronas Gas dropped 28 sen to RM17.52 and Sime Darby Plantation lost eight sen to RM5.00.

Bank counters Maybank gained seven sen to RM8.26, Public Bank went up 16 sen to RM18.08, Hong Leong Bank was 20 sen higher at RM18.10 and CIMB gained two sen to RM3.77.

Among the actives, BioAlpha rose one sen to 36.5 sen, AT Systematization inched down half-a-sen to 20.5 sen and XOX was half-a-sen lower at 10.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index eased 13.15 points to 11,556.48, the FBMT 100 Index lost  17.83 points to 11,314.95 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 48.71 points to 13,323.42.

The FBM 70 increased 11.48 points to 14,960.02 and the FBM ACE slashed 60.02 points to 10,711.89.

Meanwhile, the Industrial Products and Services Index improved 0.20 of-a-point to 167.32, the Plantation Index was 41.85 points lower at 7,308.43 and the Financial Services Index added 95.27 points to 14,303.55. – Bernama, December 2, 2020