Bursa Malaysia slipped into the red at midday on Friday in line with declining performance at the regional level.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 1.87 points to 1,539.54 from Thursday's close of 1,541.41 which resulted from the plantation sector counter.
The benchmark index opened 0.15 points better at 1,541.56 and now moved between 1,538.58 and 1,543.84 throughout this morning's session.
Market sentiment was negative with losers outnumbering gainers by 496 to 460. Meanwhile, 463 counters were unchanged, 916 were untraded and 18 others were suspended.
The total turnover amounted to 2.59 billion units worth RM1.30 billion.
Meanwhile, crude palm oil was traded in a range of RM4,200 to RM4,300 per ton.
According to Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, they expect local catalysts such as the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail and the National Energy Transition Roadmap to attract the construction, real estate and renewable energy sectors.
Meanwhile, heavyweights CIMB Group Holdings Bhd fell one sen to RM6.54, Tenaga Nasional Bhd fell four sen to RM11.50 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd lost three sen to RM6.84. Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) was unchanged at RM9.55 and Public Bank Bhd rose two sen to RM4.24.
Among the active stocks, the first company in Pasaran ACE Alpha IVF Group Bhd at 32 sen and Borneo Oil Bhd at half a sen both unchanged. Pan Malaysia Holdings Bhd rose two sen to 21 sen, Fitters Diversified Bhd rose half a sen to six sen and Sarawak Cable Bhd rose five sen to 21 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Gold Index fell 1.65 points to 11,534.84, the FBMT 100 Index eased 2.08 points to 11,183.82 and the FBM Gold Shariah Index fell 5.65 points to 11,626.65.
