KUALA LUMPUR (May 21): Bursa Malaysia bathed in a sea of red at midday today amid cautious sentiment due to rising Covid-19 cases and fatalities nationwide, as well as a possibility of a full lockdown in Selangor.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slid 21.42 points or 1.36% to 1,553.9 from Thursday’s close of 1,575.32.
The market bellwether moved between 1,552.07 and 1,574.7 during the morning trading session.
On the broader market, losers trounced gainers 1,135 to 138, while 243 counters were unchanged, 696 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 4.97 billion units worth RM2.28 billion.
Among the heavyweights, Hong Leong Bank Bhd was flat at RM4.07, Malayan Banking Bhd fell four sen to RM8.23, Public Bank Bhd declined five sen to RM4.15, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd lost 11 sen to RM7.83, Tenaga Nasional Bhd slipped three sen to RM9.87, and IHH Healthcare Bhd slipped eight sen to RM5.20.
Of the actives, Focus Dynamics Group Bhd gained one sen to seven sen, Sedania Innovator Bhd jumped 14.5 sen to 75 sen, Grand-Flo Bhd edged up half-a-sen to 57.5 sen, VSolar Group Bhd was flat at 2.5 sen, Fintec Global Bhd eased half-a-sen to 3.5 sen, and Tanco Holdings Bhd gave up 1.5 sen to 13 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 160.47 points to 11,255, the FBMT 100 Index went down 153.02 points to 10,969.94, the FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 191.93 points to 12,514.68, the FBM ACE narrowed 116.05 points to 7,486.07, and the FBM 70 fell 207.73 points to 14,387.5.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index decreased 147.51 points to 14,728.15, the Industrial Products and Services Index fell three points to 184.83, and the Plantation Index dipped 52.24 points to 6,866.07.
Bursa Malaysia Bhd and its subsidiaries will be closed on Wednesday, May 26, 2021, in conjunction with Wesak Day and will resume operations on Thursday, May 27, 2021.
