KUALA LUMPUR (March 19): Bursa Malaysia continued to remain lower at midday on Tuesday amidst the mixed regional market performance as market participants are gearing up for a series of critical policy decisions from major central banks, said an analyst. 

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 3.64 points to 1,550 from Monday’s close of 1,553.64.

The benchmark index, which opened 2.05 points easier at 1,551.59, moved between 1,546.08 and 1,552.1 during the morning trading session. 

Market breadth was negative with losers beating gainers 456 to 436, while 430 counters were unchanged, 972 untraded and nine others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 2.32 billion units worth RM1.42 billion.

According to the news report on Tuesday, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) raised its interest rates for the first time since 2007. The central bank lifted its short-term interest rates to a range of 0% to 0.1% from -0.1%. 

Meanwhile, Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Research reckoned that the market is likely to stay choppy due to persistent foreign outflows and the recent higher-than-expected US inflation data. 

"The US inflation data could force the market to reassess the timeline for US interest rate cuts," it said in a note.

HLIB Research added that major support levels are pegged at 1,518, 1,530, and 1,538 while the resistance levels are located at 1,560, 1,580, and 1,600. 

Bursa Malaysia heavyweights Maybank Bhd and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd were flat at RM9.75 and RM6.86, respectively, Public Bank Bhd fell a sen to RM4.28, Tenaga Nasional Bhd dropped 10 sen to RM11.50, and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd added five sen to RM6.70. 

Among the actives, Fitters Diversified Bhd gained a sen to six sen, YTL Power International Bhd added two sen to RM3.94, while Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd, Harvest Miracle Capital Bhd and Ta Win Bhd were flat at one sen, 12.5 sen and 3.5 sen, respectively. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 7.39 points weaker at 11,549.98, the FBMT 100 Index lost 10.32 points to 11,208.53, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 17.26 points to 11,546.75.

However, the FBM ACE Index improved by 1.7 points to 4,718.82 and the FBM 70 Index increased 51.87 points to 15,767.32. 

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gained 30.08 points to 17,369.13, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.66 of a point to 177.90, and the Energy Index gained 3.53 points to 931.94, but the Plantation Index slipped 12.4 points to 7,273.04.