KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 10): Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session lower in sync with regional bourses on Tuesday (Jan 10), influenced by the downbeat Wall Street performance overnight, said a dealer.

Losses were seen across almost all sectors, pushing down the benchmark FBM KLCI by 8.85 points to 1,484.57 at lunch break, compared with Monday's closing at 1,493.42.

The market bellwether opened 3.02 points weaker at 1,490.40, and moved between 1,482.06 and 1,491.22 throughout the morning session.

Market breadth was negative, as losers outpaced gainers 421 to 274, while 410 counters were unchanged, 1,106 untraded, and 20 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 1.79 billion units worth RM805.15 million.

Nevertheless, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said buying momentum in the technology sector should be sustained in tandem with gains in the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite.

“Meanwhile, the tourism, aviation, consumer, as well as transportation and logistics sectors may see further upside following China’s reopening,” it said in a note on Tuesday.

The stock brokerage further said that oil and gas stocks are also expected to recover, in line with the rebound in the Brent crude oil price on Monday.

“Should the uptrend remain intact, the KLCI may retest the 1500-1,510 level, while support is located at around 1,450-1,460,” it added.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) added one sen to RM8.81 and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd was flat at RM5.71, while Public Bank Bhd lost one sen to RM4.30 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) shed one sen to RM9.52, whereas Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd declined 11 sen to RM8.24.

Of the actives, Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd eased one sen to 15.5 sen, Citaglobal Bhd inched down half a sen to 33.5 sen and CSH Alliance Bhd went down half a sen to 5.5 sen, Top Glove Corp Bhd slipped 3.5 sen to 83.5 sen, while Tex Cycle Technology (M) Bhd rose 14.5 sen to 58 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 51.46 points to 10,684.81, the FBMT 100 Index went down 54.13 points to 10,388.93, the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 86.27 points to 10,875.41, the FBM 70 Index slid 34.91 points to 13,173.26, and the FBM ACE Index shaved off 43.05 points to 5,395.12.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index shrank 22.30 points to 16.500.16, the Plantation Index gave up 45.94 points to 6,9722.20, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.82 of a point to 181.69.

Meanwhile, the Energy Index was 0.83 of a point higher at 796.36.