KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia failed to keep up with its gains made earlier and fell below 1,600 level, with 940 counters in the red at mid-morning trade amid selling pressure.
At 11 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 25.34 points to 1591.91.
The index opened 1.41 points lower at 1,615.84 compared with Monday’s close of 1,617.25.
On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 940 to 213, while 315 counters were unchanged, 616 untraded and 12 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 3.77 billion units worth RM2.29 billion.
Earlier, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah proclaimed an emergency that will be enforced until Aug 1 as a proactive measure to contain the worsening Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
His Majesty decreed that the emergency be in force up to that date, or earlier if the number of positive Covid-19 cases can be effectively controlled and reduced.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin during a live televised address on the Declaration of Emergency Proclamation said the government had to act (in seeking proclamation of emergency) as there is no sign of reduction in Covid-19 cases.
Having said that, he said the civilian government will continue to function during the period of the emergency.
Banking dragged the heavyweight counters, with Maybank losing 17 sen to RM8.02 and Public Bank declining 56 sen to RM19.72.
TNB went down 14 sen to RM10.10, PetChem dropped 18 sen to RM7.12, while Top Glove and IHH retreated two sen to RM6.41 and RM5.58, respectively.
Only Sime Darby, TM and Press Metal were on positive note, gaining five sen to RM2.33, 10 sen to RM5.61 and one sen to RM8.26, respectively.
Of the actives, Hubline, AT Systematization and Lambo were flat at five sen, 17.5 sen and three sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index surrendered 173.95 points to 11,374.53, the FBMT 100 Index lost 175.74 points to 11,137.32, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 125.09 points to 12,945.60.
The FBM ACE narrowed 142.23 points to 10,216.81 and the FBM 70 depreciated 218.28 points to 14,214.80.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index sank 372.71 points to 14,458.70, while the Industrial Products and Services Index decreased 2.59 points to 169.41 and the Plantation Index fell 65.90 points to 7,417.67. – Bernama
