KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia remained in the red at mid-afternoon in line with the bearish performance of regional bourses, due to concerns over the COVID-19 outbreak which has been declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation.
At 3.01pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 22 points to 1,421.83 from Wednesday’s close of 1,443.83, after opening 12.42 points weaker at 1,431.41.
On the broader market, losers beat gainers 932 to 134, with 177 counters unchanged, 773 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 2.49 billion shares worth RM1.68 bil.
On the regional front, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 3.81% to 24,269.06, Singapore’s Straits Times Index declined 3.69% to 2,680.96 and the Jakarta Composite Index was 2.94% lower at 5,002.56.
Among the heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank lost 11 sen to RM8.28, Tenaga was 20 sen weaker at RM12.42, Public Bank decreased 48 sen to RM16.32 and IHH went down three sen to RM5.56.
Of the actives, Lambo gained half-a-sen to 1.5 sen, Bumi Armada lost 1.5 sen to 16.5 sen and Jaks Resources eased 14.5 sen to 90.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 198.41 points to 9,881.97, the FBM Emas Shariah Index dipped 161.10 points to 10,557.41 and the FBM 70 declined 327.85 points to 11,745.13.
The FBMT 100 Index was 178.31 points lower at 9,766.65 and the FBM Ace depreciated 237.02 points to 4,487.50.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index contracted 3.91 points to 119.54, the Plantation Index was 136.47 points weaker at 6,257.11 and the Financial Services Index gave up 329.42 points to 13,584.04. – March 12, 2020, Bernama
