Aggressive profit-taking in finance counters continued to drag the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) lower mid-day, ignoring the bullish sentiment in regional markets, dealers said.
At 12.30pm, the key index finished the morning session 12.88 points lower at 1,517.85.
Affin Investment Bank Head of Retail Research Dr Nazri Khan said the market was cautious, despite the positive sentiment regionally, as it reacted to the stronger-than-expected manufacturing data from China.
"The CI raced up to end the final trading week of last year at 1,530.73 but retreated on mixed trading mid-day. This is a normal reaction after a rally to go into a profit-taking mode," he told Bernama today.
He said the local market would most likely improve by Friday.
Public Bank, Hong Leong Bank, Maybank, CIMB and RHB Capital were the major losers today.
The Finance Index erased 216.24 points to 13,486.51, the Plantation Index gained 33.18 points to 8,195.88 and the Industrial Index fell 9.06 points to 2,733.99. The FBM Emas Index lost 51.851 points to 10,437.22, the FBM 70 Index rose 79.93 points to 11,576.68 and the FBM ACE Index inched up 4.16 points to 4,072.74.
Gainers led losers 330 to 293, 276 counters were unchanged and 577 counters were untraded.Turnover stood at 818.813 lots worth RM584.827 million.
For actives, Hibiscus Petroleum-WA gained five sen to 58 sen, JCY International-CD added eight sen to 54 sen, MAS-CD perked 3.5 sen to 9.5 sen and Kulim-CB advanced 3.5 sen to 18.5 sen.
Among heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB lost 20 sen each to RM8.38 and RM7.24, respectively, Sime Darby erased two sen to RM9.18 while Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM6.20. -- BERNAMA
At 12.30pm, the key index finished the morning session 12.88 points lower at 1,517.85.
Affin Investment Bank Head of Retail Research Dr Nazri Khan said the market was cautious, despite the positive sentiment regionally, as it reacted to the stronger-than-expected manufacturing data from China.
"The CI raced up to end the final trading week of last year at 1,530.73 but retreated on mixed trading mid-day. This is a normal reaction after a rally to go into a profit-taking mode," he told Bernama today.
He said the local market would most likely improve by Friday.
Public Bank, Hong Leong Bank, Maybank, CIMB and RHB Capital were the major losers today.
The Finance Index erased 216.24 points to 13,486.51, the Plantation Index gained 33.18 points to 8,195.88 and the Industrial Index fell 9.06 points to 2,733.99. The FBM Emas Index lost 51.851 points to 10,437.22, the FBM 70 Index rose 79.93 points to 11,576.68 and the FBM ACE Index inched up 4.16 points to 4,072.74.
Gainers led losers 330 to 293, 276 counters were unchanged and 577 counters were untraded.Turnover stood at 818.813 lots worth RM584.827 million.
For actives, Hibiscus Petroleum-WA gained five sen to 58 sen, JCY International-CD added eight sen to 54 sen, MAS-CD perked 3.5 sen to 9.5 sen and Kulim-CB advanced 3.5 sen to 18.5 sen.
Among heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB lost 20 sen each to RM8.38 and RM7.24, respectively, Sime Darby erased two sen to RM9.18 while Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM6.20. -- BERNAMA
