KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 27): Bursa Malaysia ended Wednesday's morning trading session lower, weighed down by selling activities in the broader market.

At lunch break, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slid 5.62 points to 1,439.93 from Tuesday’s close of 1,445.55, after opening 4.69 points easier at 1,440.86.

The benchmark index moved between 1,436.75 and 1,441.13 throughout the session.

Market breadth was negative as losers led gainers 492 to 281, while 416 counters were unchanged, 1,198 untraded and 100 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.55 billion units worth RM868.85 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd noted that Wall Street ended significantly lower overnight as investors were concerned that the elevated interest rate environment could dampen the economic outlook.

“With the United States’ new home sales and consumer confidence index coming in below estimates for August and September, respectively, we believe the overall market conditions may remain negative, and the effect is likely to spill over to the local bourse,” it said in a note.

The brokerage expects selling pressure to build up among technology stocks as the trading environment turns more cautious due to the Nasdaq's negative performance overnight.

“We like defensive sectors such as utility counters that have stable cash flow and dividends, while traders may continue to stake their position around the mega infrastructure theme within the construction, building material and property sectors ahead of the Budget 2024,” it added.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd lost one sen to RM8.86, Public Bank Bhd fell five sen to RM4.14 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd went down four sen to RM7.29, while CIMB Group Holdings Bhd was flat at RM5.55 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd added five sen to RM9.99.

Of the actives, MyEG Services Bhd decreased half-a-sen to 79.5 sen and VSolar Group Bhd was 2.5 sen weaker at 20 sen, while KNM Group Bhd stood at 12.5 sen.

Both Widad Group Bhd rose half-a-sen to 51 sen and Velesto Energy Bhd gained half-a-sen to 25.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dropped 38.64 points to 10,671, the FBMT 100 Index went down 40.02 points to 10,333.47 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index weakened by 27.85 points to 10,938.28.

The FBM ACE Index reduced by 38.61 points to 5,159.22 and the FBM 70 Index shed 53.69 points to 14,210.68.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slumped 71.55 points to 16,116.97, the Plantation Index erased 11.99 points to 6,895.27, the Energy Index slipped 0.84 of-a-point to 895.31 and the Industrial Products Services Index eased 0.21 of-a-point to 173.97.