KUALA LUMPUR (May 19): Bursa Malaysia remained lower at midday today on lack of positive catalysts to fuel the market.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 14.11 points to 1,577.21 from Tuesday’s close of 1,591.32.

The market bellwether, which opened 0.23 of-a-point easier at 1,591.22, moved between 1,576.05 and 1,591.32 throughout the morning session.

The overall market breadth was negative with losers thumping gainers 714 to 186, while 364 counters were unchanged, 940 untraded and seven others suspended.

Total volume stood at 2.71 billion units worth RM1.36 billion.

Among the heavyweights, Top Glove Corp Bhd added one sen to RM5.35, Malayan Banking Bhd fell five sen to RM8.34, Public Bank Bhd shed one sen to RM4.18, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd declined 13 sen to RM7.99, and Tenaga Nasional Bhd and IHH Healthcare Bhd slipped six sen each to RM9.93 and RM5.29, respectively. 

Of the actives, Focus Dynamics Group Bhd and Green Ocean Corp Bhd edged up half-a-sen each to 6.5 sen and 4.5 sen, respectively, Main Market debutant Tuju Setia Bhd surged 13.5 sen to 83.5 sen, Censof Holdings Bhd advanced 5.5 sen to 41 sen, Dagang NeXchange Bhd and UCrest Bhd decreased 3.5 sen each to 73.5 sen and 33.5 sen, respectively.  

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lost 107.13 points to 11,498.02, the FBMT 100 Index went down 98.38 points to 11,181.98, the FBM Emas Shariah Index reduced 121.18 points to 12,808.19, the FBM ACE gave up 51.27 points to 7,766.33, and the FBM 70 depreciated 124.26 points to 14,850.88.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index shed 95.34 points to 14,916.39, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 3.44 points to 192.58, and the Plantation Index slid 46.72 points to 6,913.94.