KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 16): Bursa Malaysia ended the Friday (Dec 16) morning trading session slightly lower amid market volatility, tracking the weak performance on Wall Street overnight, an analyst said.

At lunch break, the benchmark FBM KLCI had declined by 2.06 points to 1,465.07, from Thursday's closing at 1,467.13.

The barometer index opened 5.37 points lower at 1,461.76, and moved between 1,459.31 and 1,467.79 during the morning session.

On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 507 to 260, while 392 counters were unchanged, 1,115 untraded, and 48 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.84 billion units worth RM801.31 million.

ActivTrades trader Anderson Alves said Asian equities were mostly on the back foot on Friday, mirroring the weakness on Wall Street overnight following hawkish central bank commentary.

"The hawkish tone from major central banks seems to have caught the market by surprise, as investors had been betting on peak inflation and a slowing of policy tightening going into 2023.

"Traders are likely to be leaning towards defensive exposure with some volatility expected in the market," he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) stood at RM8.69 a share, followed by Public Bank Bhd at RM4.37 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) at RM9.20. All three counters lost one sen. Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd was unchanged at RM8.46, while CIMB Group Holdings Bhd rose three sen to RM5.78.

Of the actives, Borneo Oil Bhd was flat at 2.5 sen and Key Alliance Group Bhd was unchanged at 1.5 sen, Advance Synergy Bhd gained two sen to 21 sen, Malayan United Industries Bhd ticked up half a sen to nine sen, and Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX) fell 2.5 sen to 49.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slid 18.45 points to 10,532.45, the FBMT 100 Index shed 14.60 points to 10,236.31, the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 25.75 points weaker at 10,644.03, the FBM 70 Index shaved off 19.06 points to 12,903.61, and the FBM ACE Index dipped 40.31 points to 5,431.28.  

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index was 12.56 points lower at 16,522.94, the Plantation Index improved 75.80 points to 6,780.21, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.25 of a point to 180.77, and the Energy Index gave up 6.11 points to 788.49.