KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed in negative territory at midday on selling pressure in specific heavyweight stocks.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased by 0.18 of-a-point to 1,465.10 versus yesterday's close of 1,465.28.
The FBM KLCI opened 1.28 points better at 1,466.56 and moved between 1,464.55 and 1,467.49 throughout the session.
On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 430 to 384, while 425 counters were unchanged, 1,077 untraded and 12 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.39 billion units valued at RM1.29 billion.
Among the heavyweight, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd was 10 sen lower at RM7.09 and Sime Darby Plantation Bhd eased five sen to RM4.50.
These counters dragged the composite index down by a combined 1.88 points. Of the actives, Careplus Group Bhd inched up half-a-sen to 47 sen, UEM Sunrise Bhd put on five sen to 82 sen, Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd perked up 5.5 sen to 67 sen, Top Glove Corp Bhd decreased 2.5 sen to 93.5 sen, and Leform Bhd edged down one sen to 37.5 sen.