KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia continued its decline at midday, as persistent selling pressure, especially in the utilities sector, weighed down selected heavyweights.

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia (FBM KLCI) declined 7.99 points to 1,550.81 from yesterday's close of 1,558.80.

The benchmark index, starting 2.50 points lower at 1,556.30, fluctuated between 1,549.54 and 1,556.69 throughout the morning session.

On the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 678 to 297, while 387 counters were unchanged.

Turnover amounted to 2.68 billion units worth RM1.53 billion.

In a note today, Malacca Securities Research said the overall sentiment of the market will likely remain positive, digesting the improvements in latest quarterly results.

The firm added that a general trend of gradual recovery was noticed within the metal related stocks, such as Prestar Resources Bhd, PA Resources Bhd and Southern Cable Group Bhd, thus this may translate to higher trading activities within the building material segment.  "Meanwhile, the packaging sector has seen improvements in BP Plastics Holding Bhd and Public Packages Holdings Bhd. 

"Besides, selected technology stocks like Dufu Technology Corp Bhd and Unisem (M) Bhd have seen recovery and we reckon traders to pay attention to the technology sector," it said.