KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia remained in the red at mid-afternoon despite narrowing its losses following a heavy sell-off in the morning.
After the lunch break, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 30.59 points lower at 1,272.69 compared to Friday’s close of 1,303.28.
The key index was 53.78 points easier at 1,249.50 this morning with the benchmark index moving between 1,241.46 and 1,272.84 throughout the session.
On the broader market, losers overtook gainers 742 to 130, while 191 counters were unchanged, 956 untraded and 17 suspended.
Turnover amounted to 1.83 billion shares worth RM1.27 bil.
On the KLCI, Public Bank and Hong Leong Bank both turned blue after gaining two sen and 10 sen each to RM14.06 and RM6.67, while glove manufacturer Hartalega added five sen to RM6.67, narrowing the index losses.
Maybank also pared down its loses to 22 sen to RM7.29 while CIMB Group skidded 26 sen to RM3.38.
All Petronas related counters remained under pressure due to the drastic decline in oil price; Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM4.43 after dipping 25 sen to RM4.18 earlier, MISC down four sen to RM7.40, Petronas Gas lost 32 sen to RM15.36 and Petronas Dagangan reduced 74 sen to RM19.26.
Of the actives, AirAsia Group took the lead after its co-founders Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun were cleared of corruption allegations related to the Airbus scandal.
Its share price stood at 63.5 sen, with 58.09 million shares traded.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index contracted 251.12 points to 8,591.66, the FBM Emas Shariah Index narrowed 257.48 points to 9,406.65 and the FBM 70 gave up 407.43 points to 9,480.84.
The FBMT 100 Index eased 239.06 points to 8,550.24 and the FBM Ace depreciated 149.96 points to 3,369.16.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 3.43 points to 96.32, the Financial Services Index reduced 308.37 points to 11,513.14 and the Plantation Index was 144.10 points lower at 5,793.52. – March 23, 2020, Bernama
