KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 – Bursa Malaysia finished the morning session lower due to a lack of market movers before the 15th general election (GE15) this Saturday.

At the lunch break, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 9.13 points to 1,454.87 from yesterday’s close of 1,464.00.

The market bellwether opened 2.49 points easier at 1,461.51.

On the broader market, decliners outpaced gainers 450 to 283, while 352 counters were unchanged, 1,240 untraded and 13 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.61 billion units valued at RM800.69 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng expects the FBM KLCI to hover between the 1,460 and 1,475 range today as the ringgit continues to strengthen against the US dollar.

“We noticed the market undertone remains strong as there were some accumulations on utilities and healthcare stocks.

“Besides, concerns on global demand from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) saw the Brent crude dip to below the US$93 per barrel, thus the energy sector may experience some headwinds today,” he told Bernama.

Among Bursa Malaysia heavyweight stocks, both Maybank and Public Bank trimmed two sen to RM8.57 and RM4.36 respectively, Petronas Chemicals and IHH Healthcare gave up four sen each to RM8.68 and RM5.95 respectively and CIMB slipped six sen to RM5.43.

Among the actives, Advance Synergy shed 1.5 sen to 12.5 sen, XOX eased half-a-sen to two sen and Supermax Corporation shrank one sen to 96.5 sen, while both Borneo Oil and Top Glove were flat at two sen and RM1.02 respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Shariah Index contracted 54.89 points to 10,465.49, the FBM Emas Index lost 53.01 points to 10,342.16, the FBMT 100 Index lessened by 56.73 points to 10,071.26, the FBM 70 narrowed 43.58 points to 12,321.89 and the FBM ACE reduced 2.54 points to 5,007.49.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index declined 69.74 points to 16,219.18, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.21 of-a-point to 178.93, the Energy Index inched down 4.65 points to 727.10 and the Plantation Index narrowed 6.56 points to 6,895.80. – Bernama