KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 12): Bursa Malaysia ended Wednesday's (Jan 12) morning trading session lower due to emerging profit-taking in selected heavyweights after the recent gains.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed seven points to 1,557.29 from Tuesday’s closing of 1,564.29.

The index, which opened 0.1 of-a-point higher at 1,564.39, moved between 1,556.7 and 1,567.35 throughout the session.

On the broader market, however, gainers thumped decliners 452 to 366, while 404 counters were unchanged, 1,045 untraded and 31 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 19.4 billion units valued at RM877.85 million.

In a note, Rakuten Trade said the local bourse is expected to hover within the 1,555-1,570 range on Wednesday amidst the volatility in regional markets.

“United States (US) equities rebounded as all three major indices closed higher [on Tuesday] following some steep selling over the previous sessions.

“Nonetheless, many expect overall sentiments to remain volatile as the US Federal Reserves has reiterated its tapering intentions to tackle inflation,” it said.

On the local front, Rakuten Trade said the FBM KLCI had continued its uptrend, recording yet another impressive performance on Tuesday.

“Funds were picking up banking stocks ahead of higher interest rates regime going forward.

“As the index heads towards its resistance level at 1,570, it will be interesting to see if the ongoing buying spree can push it past the level decisively. If so, then we may see the index heading towards the 1,600 mark,” it added.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd declined nine sen to RM8.41, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd fell five sen to RM5.57, IHH Healthcare Bhd slipped one sen to RM6.64, while Public Bank Bhd was flat at RM4.23 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd added 10 sen to RM9.

Of the actives, Trive Property Group Bhd earned half-a-sen to 12 sen, Aldrich Resources Bhd advanced one sen to 5.5 sen, while OCR Group Bhd shed one sen to 17.5 sen and SMTrack Bhd eased half-a-sen to 29.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 25.31 points lower at 11,262.22, FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 7.39 points to 12,028.98, FBMT 100 Index dipped 31.53 points to 10,955.24 and FBM ACE trimmed 44.31 points to 6,572.36, while FBM 70 went up 36.05 points to 14,185.06.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index lost 116.09 points to 16,061.04, the Industrial Products and Services Index gained 1.02 points to 204.53, while the Plantation Index reduced 40.95 points to 6,727.67.