At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.69 point lower at 1,538.47 from yesterday’s close of 1,539.16.
After opening 0.44 point weaker at 1,538.72 this morning, the index moved between 1,534.97 and 1,539.56 throughout the morning session.
On the broader market, gainers amounted to 377 and losers at 311, with 374 counters unchanged, 916 not traded and 33 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 1.59 billion shares worth RM1.07 bil.
In a note, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said regional markets would likely take cues from Wall Street’s overnight decline, which succumbed to selling pressure yesterday amid heightened fears of Covid-19.
“Therefore, regional markets are expected to see more downward bias today. Locally the FBM KLCI is set to experience some selling pressure although we anticipate buying support to emerge as the index inches closer to the 1,530 mark,” it added.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 128.11 points, or 0.4%, at 29,423.3, while the S&P 500 index lost 5.51 points, or 0.2%, to close at 3,373.94 and the Nasdaq Composite Index closed 13.99 points, or 0.1% lower, at 9,711.97.
Among heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank added one sen to RM8.47, Tenaga increased two sen to RM12.60, Public Bank went down 20 sen to RM17.60 and Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM6.50.
Of the actives, MYEG gained five sen to RM1.40, while Ekovest and Bumi Armada rose 1.5 sen to 76 sen and 39.5 sen respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 13.83 points to 11,037.72, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 31.13 points to 11,858.41 and the FBMT 100 Index gained 11.14 points to 10,824.10.
The FBM 70 was 79.89 points higher at 14,087.39 and the FBM Ace lost 32.46 points to 5,581.70.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.29 point to 146.60, the Financial Services Index was 22.25 points lower at 14,554.21 and the Plantation Index perked 22.84 points to 7,313.99. – Feb 14, 2020, Bernama