KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session lower as profit-taking activities emerged in selected heavyweights, tracking the weaker performance on Wall Street overnight.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 8.44 points to 1,454.96 from yesterday's closing of 1,463.40.
The barometer index opened 2.81 points lower at 1,460.59 -- its highest level this morning -- before moving to a low of 1,454.52 prior to lunch break.
The market breadth was negative, with decliners leading gainers 476 to 287, while 423 counters were unchanged, 1,188 untraded and 10 others suspended.
Malacca Securities Bhd said profit-taking activities emerged post-market on Nvidia following the release of results; earnings came in above estimates and the firm expects the profit-taking actions could spill over towards stocks on the local front.
"Nevertheless, in view of the growing Malaysia gross domestic product (GDP) by 3.3 per cent in the third quarter (Q3) 2023, released last week, we expect traders to focus their attention on the upcoming reporting season," it said in a note.
Among the heavyweight counters, Malayan Banking Bhd lost one sen toRM9.10, Public Bank Bhd lost one sen to RM4.26, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd fell three sen to RM5.76, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd dropped 14 sen to RM7.24, and Tenaga Nasional Bhd gave up four sen to RM9.98.
Of the actives, Capital A Bhd rose three sen to 86 sen, Widad Group Bhd put on half-a-sen to 46 sen, Perdana Petroleum Bhd lost 1.5 sen to 24 sen, Bahvest Resources Bhd inched down two sen to 51 sen, and My E.G. Services Bhd rose to 82 sen.