The FBM KLCI closed lower at midday on the back of declines in the services, financial and healthcare sectors.
At 2.40pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell by 2.86 points (0.16%) to 1,614.55 from 1,616.75 at Thursday's close.
Broad market sentiment was negative with 573 losers against 375 gainers and 488 unchanged.
According to Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, market participants remain confident in the market by seeing potential in healthcare stocks.
The firm believes the continued catalyst in data stock investment coupled with the potential announcement of the construction of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail (KL-SG HSR) in the second half of 2024 will provide a boost to construction stocks, real estate, building materials and the utilities sector.
In addition, technology stocks will be a long-term theme with the increasing use of AI and cloud services.
Meanwhile, heavyweights saw a mixed performance; Maybank declined six sen to RM10.04, Public Bank and CIMB each decreased one sen to RM4.04 and RM6.99 while Tenaga Nasional added four sen to RM14.28. IHH Healthcare remained unchanged at RM6.33.
Among the most active counters, Orgabio rose five sen to 48 sen, Green Ocean rose two sen to 18 sen and SNS Network added 3.5 sen to 92 sen.
HHRG was unchanged at 16.5 sen while Ocean Fresh slipped 5.5 sen to 71.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 9.71 points to 12,466.97, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 10.37 points to 12,034.26, the FBM ACE Index decreased 6.43 points to 5,955.20 and the FBM 70 Index dropped 11.35 points to 18,382.57.
However, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 2.70 points to 12,831.54.
By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 0.35 points to 199.54, the Energy Index rose 2.27 points to 991.83 and the Plantation Index added 16.31 points to 7,030.22 while the Financial Services Index declined 38.68 points to 17,621.95.
