KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session lower as investors sought out new leads after having digested recent global developments.
At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.78 of-a-point lower at 1,452.51 from yesterday's closing of 1,453.29.
The index opened 2.49 points better at 1,455.78 and thereafter moved between 1,451.44 and 1,456.05 throughout the morning session.
The market breadth was negative, with decliners leading gainers 507 to 326, while 418 counters were unchanged, 1,151 untraded and 10 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 2.08 billion units valued at RM1.28 billion.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said in a note that it has anticipated trading activities to be slower throughout the Asia trading hours as Wall Street was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Nevertheless, the firm said an upside could emerge with the expectation that Beijing would increase its support for the failing sector, where China may allow banks to offer unsecured short-term loans to qualified developers for the first time.
"This may spur an upside move on the local equities, and traders will focus on the ongoing reporting season," it said.
Among the heavyweight counters, Malayan Banking Bhd rose two sen to RM9.11, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd rose one sen to RM5.75 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd increased two sen to RM7.18.
Tenaga Nasional Bhd was flat at RM10.02 while Public Bank Bhd fell two sen to RM4.25.
Of the actives, Top Glove Corp Bhd and Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd rose half-a-sen each to 89 sen and three sen, Widad Group Bhd lost half-a-sen to 46.5 sen.