KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 19): Bursa Malaysia ended Tuesday's morning session slightly lower as cautious market sentiment continued to weigh on risk appetite.

At lunch break, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.77 points to 1,457.22 from Monday’s close of 1,457.99.

The index opened 1.27 points lower at 1,456.72, and moved between 1,454.61 and 1,458.13 throughout the morning trading session.

On the broader market, gainers slightly outnumbered losers 425 to 389, while 407 counters were unchanged, 1,153 untraded and 11 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.27 billion units worth RM1.07 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed flat overnight ahead of the two-day US Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting.

Although the consensus expectation is that the Fed will maintain interest rates on Wednesday, many are concerned by an uptick in the inflationary data, especially by the latest surge in crude oil prices.

“We reckon trading to be on a cautious mode today with an eye on the Fed move tomorrow, thus expect the index to hover between the 1,455 and 1,465 range,” he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd eased three sen to RM8.90, Tenaga Nasional Bhd lost four sen to RM10.10, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd slipped five sen to RM7.22, Public Bank Bhd was flat at RM4.20 while CIMB Group Holdings Bhd rose one sen to RM5.77.

Of the actives, KNM Group Bhd added one sen to 11.5 sen, Mercury Securities Group Bhd gained 3.5 sen to 28.5 sen, Icon Offshore Bhd increased 1.5 sen to 13 sen and Bumi Armada Bhd rose 1.5 sen to 57 sen.

Sapura Energy Bhd fell half-a-sen to 55.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 6.72 points to 10,769.05, the FBMT 100 Index improved 4.83 points to 10,439.47, the FBM 70 Index strengthened 51.68 points to 14,277.68 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index expanded 8.68 points to 11,004.32.

The FBM ACE Index widened by 8.55 points to 5,197.99.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index was 26.01 points lower at 16,315.03, the Plantation Index decreased 13.72 points to 6,963.88 while the Industrial Products Services Index went up 0.18 of-a-point to 173.12.

The Energy Index firmed up 20.90 points to 913.44.