KUALA LUMPUR (July 10): Shares on Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session lower today in line with regional peers, weighed down by profit taking in selected heavyweight counters.

At the noon break, the benchmark FBM KLCI had slipped 2.76 points to 1,580.49 from yesterday’s close of 1,583.25.

The index opened 4.33 points weaker at 1,578.92 today and moved between 1,574.08 and 1,584.45 throughout the period.

 Overall market breadth was negative as losers surpassed gainers 600 to 363, while 366 counters were unchanged, 624 untraded and 22 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 4.9 billion shares worth RM2.69 billion.

Regionally, China's Shanghai Stock Exchange fell 1.05% to 3,414.21, Japan’s Nikkei shed 0.22% to 22,480.42, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index decreased 1.17% to 25,902.86, and Singapore's Straits Times Index eased 0.63% to 2,652.65.

A dealer said Asian shares traded lower alongside Chinese stocks, which also retreated from their eight consecutive days of surge.

The regional peers took their cue from a slump in US equities on concerns that a resurgence of Covid-19 cases would derail the world’s biggest economy’s recovery, she said.

Locally, Bursa was traded mostly lower throughout the morning session, on a lack of fresh catalysts to prop up the market, she said.

She added that the rally in financial stocks for the past few days cooled today, but buying of glove maker stocks continued to support the market. 

Among heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) eased two sen to RM7.89, Public Bank Bhd reduced eight sen to RM18.42 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) fell 14 sen to RM11.34.

Top Glove Corp Bhd rose 44 sen to RM21.62 and Hartalega Holdings Bhd increased 42 sen to RM17.02.  

Of the most active, Dagang NeXchange Bhd added four sen to 25.5 sen, its warrants gained 2.5 sen to 4.5 sen, Trive Property Group Bhd eased half a sen to one sen and Vsolar Group Bhd slid 1.5 sen to 5.5 sen, while PDZ Holdings Bhd was flat at 19 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas edged up 0.47 of a point to 11,161.43, the FBMT 100 Index improved 1.65 points to 11,012.49, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 24.52 points to 12,758.91.

The FBM 70 expanded 84.86 points to 13,875.17, but the FBM ACE dropped 83.14 points to 7,154.78.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slipped 45.20 points to 13,500.38, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.45 points to 138.25, and the Plantation Index contracted 60.80 points to 6,798.02.