BURSA MALAYSIA ENDS MORNING SESSION LOWER

By Karina Imran

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia was lower at midday due to profit-taking in selected heavyweights, said an analyst. 

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 3.05 points to 1,665.77 from Friday's close of 1,668.82.

The benchmark index opened 1.09 points firmer at 1,669.91.

On the broader market, losers trumped gainers 541 to 418, with 510 counters unchanged, 1,058 untraded and 30 suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.04 billion units, valued at RM1.57 billion.

SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said although local markets remain generally supported by the sugar rush from the United States (US) Federal Reserve's bold interest cuts, higher US bond yields have taken some of the steam out of the local markets. 

"And to a degree, the weakness in China's economic landscape, with the People's Bank of China holding instead of cutting rates, is hurting sentiment on the edges at midday. 

"However, I don't see it as the dominant influence, perhaps because of closer economic relations than other regional peers," he told Bernama. 

Among the heavyweights, both Maybank and Tenaga Nasional added six sen to RM10.66 and RM14.70, respectively. 

Meanwhile, Public Bank edged down one sen to RM4.69, CIMB fell five sen to RM8.39, and IHH Healthcare was flat at RM7.10.

As for the active counters, Ekovest was flat at 38.5 sen, MY EG Services eased 2.5 sen to 92 sen, and Top Glove slid one sen to RM1.09. However, Iskandar Waterfront City added two sen to 64 sen, and Capital A gained 2.5 sen to 91.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lost 20.38 points to 12,518.37, the FBM Emas Shariah Index tumbled 36.38 points to 12,376.09, the FBMT 100 Index fell 23.58 points to 12,207.63, the FBM 70 Index slipped 39.24 points to 17,902.66 and the FBM ACE Index dropped 33.87 points to 5,168.96.  

By sector, the Financial Services Index ticked down 15.97 points to 19,672.84, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.91 of-a-point to 177.93, and the Plantation Index fell 42.93 points to 7,133.72, but the Energy Index gained 2.27 points to 878.99.

-- BERNAMA