The FBM KLCI closed slightly lower at midday following profit taking activity since the opening of the session this morning.
At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down 0.21% to 1,619.19 points compared to 1,619.40 at Friday's close.
The main index opened at 1,620.67 and it moved between 1,618.36 and 1,622.40 during the morning session. Broad market sentiment was negative with losers leading gainers by 578 to 487. Meanwhile, 485 counters remained unchanged.
The total trading volume was 322.98 million shares worth RM155.31 million.
According to Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's Vice President of Equity, Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed positively last week following strong activity in artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks led by Nvidia despite expectations that the Fed will likely not lower interest rates for now.
On the local bourse, he expects buying activity in low-priced stocks to appear today following the relatively good corporate earnings report so far.
Apart from plantation sector companies, most other sector companies also recorded favorable earnings for the period of the first quarter of 2024. The index is expected to hover between the level of 1,615 to 1,625 throughout today.
On the index board, FBM100 rose 0.07% to 11,956.10, FBM Emas rose 0.06% to 12,361.63 and FBM ACE added 0.34% to 5,562.75.
From that activity, Dagang Nexchange Bhd gained 2.5 sen to 47.5 sen and Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd gained 48 sen to RM33.48.
On the losing side, Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd fell 60 sen to RM127.40 and Heineken Malaysia Bhd fell 24 sen to RM24.32.
