KUALA LUMPUR (March 9): Bursa Malaysia remained lower at midday on Thursday (March 9) amid lacklustre trading with all eyes on the overnight policy rate (OPR) announcement by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) in the evening.

At lunch break, the benchmark FBM KLCI had slipped 5.21 points to 1,449.45, from Wednesday's closing at 1,454.66.

The key index opened 0.16 of a point higher at 1,454.82, and moved between 1,449.33 and 1,455.12 throughout the morning session.

Market breadth was negative, with decliners surpassing gainers 390 to 329, while 370 counters were unchanged, 1,154 untraded, and 21 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 1.45 billion units worth RM841.3 million.

In a note on Thursday, Hong Leong Investment Bank said in anticipation of BNM’s OPR ruling later in the day, the KLCI is likely to stay choppy as it tracks an extended downbeat sentiment from Wall Street’s overnight performance following the hawkish pivot by the US Federal Reserve.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng told Bernama he reckoned the index to remain stuck within a tight range of 1,450-1,460.

Bursa heavyweights Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) at RM8.69 and Public Bank Bhd at RM4.13 had added two sen each, while CIMB Group Holdings Bhd declined nine sen to RM5.48, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd eased one sen to RM7.21, and Tenaga Nasional Bhd slid four sen to RM9.39.

Among the actives, Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd shed four sen to 69 sen, Progressive Impact Corp Bhd declined half a sen to 13 sen, while VinVest Capital Holdings Bhd at 23 sen and Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd at 14 sen had added half a sen each, and YTL Power International Bhd advanced 4.5 sen to 85 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased by 34.40 points to 10,571.35, the FBM 70 Index fell 36.02 points to 13,452.94, the FBMT 100 Index dwindled by 34.66 points to 10,248.68, the FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 42.77 points to 10,816.01, and the FBM ACE Index was 24.91 points lower at 5,430.65.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index decreased 23.89 points to 16,091.66, the Energy Index declined 3.67 points to 886.93, the Plantation Index shrank 90.10 points to 6,849.33, and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.83 of a point to 176.39.