KUALA LUMPUR (June 22): Bursa Malaysia continued to stay in the red across the board at midday on Wednesday (June 22) as overall market sentiment remained weak, weighed down by profit-taking on selected heavyweight stocks, a dealer said. 

At lunch break, the FBM KLCI had declined by 10.72 points to 1,447.16 from Tuesday's close at 1,457.88.

The benchmark index, which opened 3.25 points firmer at 1,461.13, moved between 1,445.39 and 1,461.53 throughout the morning session.

On the broader market, losers led gainers 489 to 276, while 313 counters were unchanged, 1,197 untraded and 19 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.52 billion units worth RM775.13 million.

However, ActivTrades trader Anderson Alves said Asian equities were seen to be steadying on Wednesday and there had been signs that a broad risk-on mood had returned to the markets following recent declines.

“Outlining this sentiment was a fall in the S&P 500 volatility index, which reduced demand for safe-haven assets,” he said.

He said the market is now likely to see further support from the month- and quarter-end trade, with traders expecting a rise in demand for global stocks as June draws to a close.

Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd’s vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng told Bernama that the index is expected to trend between 1,450 and 1,470 on Wednesday following Wall Street’s strong rally. 

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and Public Bank Bhd dipped two sen to RM8.63 and RM4.45 respectively, IHH Healthcare Bhd lost nine sen to RM6.40 and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd shed six sen to RM4.90, while Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd added three sen to RM9.53 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) was flat at RM8.18. 

Of the actives, MNC Wireless Bhd was up by half a sen to two sen, Lay Hong Bhd gained 4.5 sen to 31.5 sen and Cypark Resources Bhd rose four sen to 45.5 sen, while TWL Holdings Bhd eased half a sen to seven sen and Top Glove Corp Bhd slid three sen to RM1.05.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index narrowed 66.00 points to 10,328.85, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slumped 73.06 points to 10,494.49, FBM 70 inched down 38.73 points to 12,513.69, FBM ACE weakened 42.72 points to 4,782.26 and the FBMT 100 Index eased 64.31 points to 10,066.99.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 97.58 points to 16,061.60, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.39 of a point lower at 185.97, and the Plantation Index declined by 87.31 points to 7,027.66.