KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session lower, weighed down by continued selling in selected heavyweights amid upbeat regional market sentiments.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 1.18 points to 1,670.11 from Monday's close of 1,671.29.
The benchmark index, which opened 2.51 points weaker at 1,668.78, moved between 1,666.96 and 1,672.33 during the session.
In the broader market, decliners led gainers 430 to 343, while 571 counters were unchanged, 1,430 untraded, and 12 suspended.
Turnover reached 1.0 billion units valued at RM739.89 million.
In a note today, Public Investment Bank Bhd said that Asian markets continued to rise, with South Korea's Kospi Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edging up 0.34 per cent and 0.18 per cent, respectively.
Additionally, it noted that the US Federal Reserve has started its US$40 billion reserve management purchases, which would provide liquidity to the markets as financial institutions and market participants can borrow short-term funds after a period of tightening.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank gained two sen to RM10.50, CIMB edged up one sen to RM8.16 and Tenaga Nasional increased six sen to RM13.60. Public Bank fell one sen to RM4.52, and IHH Healthcare was two sen weaker at RM8.60.
On the most active list, VS Industry rose 1.5 sen to 49.5 sen, Tanco added three sen to RM1.16, and Zetrix AI inched up half a sen to 81 sen, while Pharmaniaga and TWL were flat at 28 sen and 2.5 sen, respectively.
Of the top gainers, Nestle surged 50 sen to RM115.40, PPB strengthened 32 sen to RM10.94, Ajinomoto climbed 16 sen to RM13.80, and Southern Acids improved 11 sen to RM3.18.
As for the top losers, BLD Plantation decreased 50 sen to RM15.30, Petronas Gas and United Plantations slid 34 sen each to RM17.76 and RM29.56, respectively, MISC declined 18 sen to RM7.51, and Ralco lost 14 sen to 72 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index weakened 2.17 points to 12,262.02, the FBMT 100 Index shed 2.70 points to 12,059.74, the FBM Emas Shariah Index ticked down 1.40 points to 12,060.99, and the FBM ACE Index reduced by 3.51 points to 4,822.39.
In contrast, the FBM 70 Index increased 22.67 points to 16,847.40.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index trimmed 28.34 points to 8,208.22, the Energy Index shaved off 0.56 of a point to 765.62, the Financial Services Index notched down 6.39 points to 19,615.25, and the Industrial Products and Services Index gave up 0.11 of a point to 172.52.
-- BERNAMA