KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia remained in the red at mid-afternoon as losses in regional markets dampened market sentiment with investors continuing to dump equities and other assets on worries over the economic impact from the Covid-19 pandemic.
At 3.05 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) erased 23.31 points to reach 1,215.70 from yesterday’s close of 1,239.01, after opening 11.30 points easier at 1,227.71 this morning.
On the broader market, losers edged gainers 905 to 113, with 166 counters unchanged, 833 untraded and 16 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 2.76 billion shares worth RM1.73 bil.
On the regional front, Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 4.6% to 2,314.13, the Jakarta Composite Index declined 5.4% to 4,096.97 and South Korea’s KOSPI Composite Index fell 8.39% to 1,457.64.
On the heavyweights, Maybank lost 14 sen to RM7.12, Tenaga eased four sen to RM11.38, Public Bank decreased 38 sen to RM12.64 and IHH went up 19 sen to RM4.99.
Of the actives, Sapura Energy was one sen lower at 6.5 sen, Netx Holdings was flat at one sen and Ekovest decreased three sen to 31.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index erased 281.37 points to 8,192.98, the FBM Emas Shariah Index dipped 262.22 points to 9,010.06 and the FBM 70 dipped 726.13 points to 8,991.13.
The FBMT 100 Index gave up 259.24 points to 8,155.57 and the FBM Ace depreciated 296.51 points to 3,132.90.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 7.54 points to 90.67, the Plantation Index decreased 119.43 points to 5,470.92 and the Financial Services Index gave up 429.17 points to 10,920.31. – March 19, 2020, Bernama
