KUALA LUMPUR (March 6): Bursa Malaysia remained lower at midday on Wednesday on cautious trading ahead of the overnight policy rate (OPR) announcement on Thursday while the market awaits new developments in China and the US, dealers said.

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 4.42 points to 1,532.56 from Tuesday's close of 1,536.98.

The benchmark index, which opened 4.53 points lower at 1,532.45, moved between 1,527.92 and 1,535.20 during the morning trading session.

The broader market was negative with losers beating gainers 521 to 335, while 416 counters were unchanged, 991 untraded and 13 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 2.23 billion units worth RM1.27 billion.

On Wednesday, China's top officials reportedly will hold a press conference following the National People's Congress held on Tuesday which may provide more details about the government’s effort to boost consumption, while the market also awaits the congressional testimony by US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday night.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng reckoned the market undertone will stay cautious following the decline on Wall Street overnight, hence a swift rebound is required for the FBM KLCI to maintain its recent progress.

“Therefore, we believe the index will hover within the 1,535-1,545 range today. Recent positive newsflows within the construction sector should bode well for contractors,” he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd slid three sen to RM6.50, Tenaga Nasional Bhd shed two sen to RM11.14, Malayan Banking Bhd added one sen to RM9.64, Public Bank Bhd rose one sen to RM4.33 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd gained seven sen to RM6.93.

As for the actives, Harvest Miracle Capital Bhd went down 1.5 sen to 12 sen, Velesto Energy Bhd dipped one sen to 28 sen, while Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd was unchanged at 1.5 sen, Widad Group Bhd was flat at 9.5 sen and Minetech Resources Bhd gained half-a-sen to 15 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 28.30 points lower at 11,368.71, the FBMT 100 Index sank 28.83 points to 11,036.46, the FBM 70 Index slid 27.62 points to 15,335.79, the FBM ACE Index slipped 25.52 points to 4,673.64, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 13.81 points to 11,371.28.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index fell 32.80 points to 17,257.33, the Energy Index dropped 9.58 points to 897.69, the Industrial Products and Services Index perked up 0.18 of-a-point to 174.29, and the Plantation Index gained 49.06 points to 7,227.35.