KUALA LUMPUR (April 15): Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session lower on Monday, in line with most regional peers, weighed down by rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. 

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 6.46 points to 1,544.58 from Friday’s close of 1,551.04. 

The benchmark index opened 5.59 points lower at 1,545.45 and moved between 1,542.97 and 1,548.34 throughout the session.  

Market breadth was negative with decliners outpacing advancers 943 to 180, while 303 counters were unchanged, 926 untraded and 11 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 2.7 billion units worth RM1.64 billion.

Most key regional markets were lower at midday, which saw Japan’s Nikkei decline 1.03% to 39,114.88, Singapore’s Straits Times Index eased 1.07% to 3,182.33, South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.78% to 2,660.94 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.73% to 16,599.34.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the market is expected to turn weaker this week amid concerns over the Middle East conflict, which might provide uncertainty towards the stock markets.

“Given the flattish earnings from the United States banking corporates, we believe the focus could be on the inflationary pressure and Middle East worries. 

“The traders could shift their attention towards defensive sectors such as utilities and consumer,” said the stockbroking firm in a statement on Monday. 

It also said that commodity-related such as oil and gas, plantation, and gold may extend their upward trend given the Brent oil price traded along US$90 (RM427.08), while gold price traded along US$2,300-US$2,400 on the back of heightened geopolitical risk.

“Besides, we like the ongoing domestic catalysts which are revolving along the infrastructure theme and this may provide upside towards the construction, building material, and property sectors,” it said.

Heavyweight Maybank Bhd added a sen to RM9.66, both Public Bank Bhd and Tenaga Nasional Bhd edged down by four sen to RM4.14 and RM11.66, respectively, IHH Healthcare Bhd weakened three sen to RM6.06 and CIMB Group holdings Bhd was flat at RM6.61. 

Among the actives, Harvest Miracle Capital Bhd and Bina Puri Holdings Bhd were flat at 12 sen and eight sen, respectively. 

Dagang NeXchange Bhd declined a sen to 40.5 sen, SNS Network Technology Bhd slid three sen to 38 sen and Velesto Energy Bhd gained half a sen to 28 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shed 78.14 points to 11,619.68, the FBMT 100 Index was  68.08 points easier at 11,258.84, the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 84.95 points to 11,778.04, the FBM ACE Index slumped 102.44 points to 4,997.68, and the FBM 70 Index gave up 184.16 points to 16,208.41.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index dropped 36.42 points to 7,434.27, the Financial Services Index reduced by 70.4 points to 17,201.4, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.59 points to 184.07. 

Meanwhile, the Energy Index expanded 8.34 points to 977.43.