KUALA LUMPUR (April 16): Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session lower on Tuesday, in tandem with the weaker regional performance due to a broad sell-off on Wall Street overnight, said an analyst.  

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 5.71 points to 1,536.82 from Monday's close of 1,542.53. 

The benchmark index opened 1.45 points down at 1,541.08.

The market breadth was negative with decliners outpacing gainers 1,153 to 124, while 257 counters were unchanged, 818 untraded and 11 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 3.49 billion units worth RM2.02 billion. 

Most key regional markets were lower at midday, which saw Japan’s Nikkei decline 2.2% to 38,371.57, Singapore’s Straits Times Index eased 1.29% to 3,142.63, and South Korea’s Kospi dropped 2.39% to 2,606.61. 

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 1.93% to 16,279.56 and China's SSE Composite Index dipped 1.42% to 3,013.84.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the overnight Wall Street ended weaker on the back of rising uncertainty as a result the Middle East conflict, elevated Treasury yields and stronger-than-expected US March retail sales suggesting higher inflation rate.

“We believe the selling pressure may persist over the near term given the uncertainty in the Middle East and the negative sentiment on Wall Street.

“Meanwhile, the commodity-related sectors such as oil and gas, as well as gold should still be on traders’ radar given that Brent oil price is hovering above US$90 [RM427.08], while gold price traded firmer above US$2,350 on the back of heightened geopolitical risk,” it said. 

Heavyweight stocks Maybank Bhd declined three sen to RM9.62, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd dropped four sen to RM6.54 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd weakened 14 sen to RM11.46, while Public Bank Bhd and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd were flat at RM4.12 and 6.80 respectively. 

Among the actives, TWL Holdings Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd and Velesto Energy Bhd edged down by half a sen each to three sen, 4.5 sen and 27 sen respectively. 

Malaysian Resources corp Bhd notched down three sen to 66 sen and Ingenieur Gudang Bhd was up by half a sen to 14.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dipped 79.71 points to 11,520.49, the FBMT 100 Index lost 64.02 points to 11,175.04 and the FBM ACE Index gave up 104.44 points to 4,892.03.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 73.46 points to 11,683.12 and the FBM 70 Index depreciated by 183.9 points to 15,975.95.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index cut 95.15 points to 17,074.0, the Plantation Index slid 30.1 points to 7,402.52, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 2.09 points to 181.73 and the Energy Index inched down 19.67 points to 946.82.