Bursa Malaysia remained lower on Tuesday following cautious sentiment ahead of the announcement of the overnight policy rate (OPR) and the results of China's National People's Congress (NPC).
At exactly 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 16.21 points to 1,523.06 from Monday's close of 1,539.27.
During the morning session, the benchmark index opened 1.35 points lower at 1,537.92 before falling to 1,518.84 which was the lowest level of the day.
Overall market sentiment was negative with losers outnumbering gainers by 678 versus 239. Meanwhile, 418 counters were unchanged, 916 were not traded and 13 others were suspended.
The total turnover amounted to 2.10 billion units worth RM1.40 billion.
According to Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's Vice President of Equity Research, Thong Pak leng said investors are focusing on the NPC held today (Tuesday) to predict momentum in the market.
He also said, the market's focus now shifts to China's annual legislative session today to determine the government's budget to deal with China's sluggish economy.
Meanwhile, Bank Negara Malaysia will announce the OPR this Thursday.
Among heavyweight stocks, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) fell four sen to RM9.56, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd fell eight sen to RM6.37, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) fell 16 sen to RM11.04, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd down 12 sen to RM6.76 and Public Bank Bhd was unchanged at RM4.30.
Among active stocks, Widad Group Bhd lost one sen to 10 sen, Harvest Miracle Capital Bhd lost half a sen to 13.5 sen, Fitters Diversified Bhd and Ekovest Bhd were unchanged at five sen and 45 sen respectively and TWL Holdings Bhd rose half a sen to 45 cents.
On the index board, the FBM Gold Index fell 99.77 points to 11,317.32, the FBMT 100 Index fell 99.80 points to 10,984.51, the FBM ACE Index fell 38.43 points to 4,711.93, the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 115.17 points to 11,328.32 and the FBM 70 Index fell 68.71 points to 15 ,331.42.
In terms of sectors, the Financial Services Index decreased by 100.45 points to 17,153.07, the Plantation Index decreased by 115.58 points to 7,180.52, the Energy Index decreased by 10.15 points to 903.61 and the Industrial Products and Services Index decreased by 2.039 points to 173.60 points.
