KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 8): Bursa Malaysia lost more ground at mid-afternoon, falling below the 1,500-mark as selling intensified in index-linked counters.

Across the broader market, the real estate investment trust (REIT) Index stood as the lone gainer, rising by 2.45 points to 849.15 as investors embraced dividend stocks ahead of Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) announcement on Thursday.

Investors are expecting the central bank to either maintain the OPR at the historic low of 1.75 per cent, or reduce it further by 25 basis points.  

At 3.05pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) lost 18.71 points, or 1.23 per cent to 1,497.67 from Monday's close of 1,515.38.

The key index gained 2.21 points to 1,518.50 at the opening.

Market breadth was negative with losers trumping gainers 902 to 201, while 329 counters were unchanged, 591 untraded and 23 others suspended.

Trading volume stood at 6.59 billion shares worth RM2.87 billion.

Among the heavyweights, Top Glove led the fall, dropping 64 sen to RM7.64, while Hartalega reduced 52 sen to RM13.48, Petronas Gas retreated 20 sen to RM16.54, Petronas Chemicals eased eight sen to RM5.50 and Digi was six sen lower at RM4.05.

Supermax warrants continued dominating the top losers list, while Supermax, also one of the top losers, erased 76 sen to RM8.24.

Other top decliners included Kossan, which shed 96 sen to RM12.74, Nestle dipped RM1.30 to RM139.70, KLK shrank 38 sen to RM22.62, while Bursa Malaysia trimmed 34 sen to RM9.00.

Of the actives, Fintec slid 1.5 sen to 12 sen, Evergreen rose six sen to 32 sen, while Pegasus Heights, Trive Property and Nova MSC were flat at three sen, two sen and 11 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lost 156.56 points to 10,791.06 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index weakened 230.33 points to 12,723.88.

The FBM 70 dipped 276.70 points to 14,016.59, the FBMT 100 Index was 151.84 points lower at 10,601.42 and the FBM ACE sank 235.18 points to 10,438.84.

Sector-wise, the Healthcare Index saw the biggest fall, losing 184.08 points to 3,559.66.

Financial Services Index contracted 75.89 points to 12,579.40, the Plantation Index shrank 29.66 points to 7,059.88 while the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 1.54 points to 135.23.