KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia remained easier at midday due to profit-taking activities in most heavyweight counters.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) contracted 7.0 points to 1,622.68 from Tuesday's close of 1,629.68.
The index opened 1.63 points higher at 1,631.31 and fluctuated between 1,619.71 and 1,631.31 during the morning session.
In the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 717 to 237, while 451 counters remained unchanged, 1,066 untraded, and six suspended.
Total turnover amounted to 2.71 billion units valued at RM1.39 billion.
During the morning session, Petronas Gas, RHB Bank and MR D.I.Y Group recorded positive performances in contrast to the overall market trend.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said that in view of the softer Wall Street performance overnight, it expected mild profit-taking activities to emerge on the local front.
"However, it will be a decent accumulation opportunity for stocks related to data centre catalysts, and stocks within the construction, building materials, property and utilities sectors will likely be scooped up in the near term.
"Additionally, we believe selected technology stocks will be attractive ahead of the earnings in August," it said in a note today.
The stockbroking company added that they observed some pickup in trading activities within the Sarawak theme, which may be monitored by traders.
Among the heavyweights, Public Bank fell by 1.0 sen to RM4.19, CIMB Group declined by 2.0 sen to RM7.18, Tenaga Nasional decreased by 4.0 sen to RM14.40, and IHH Healthcare dropped by 6.0 sen to RM6.25 while Maybank was unchanged at RM10.10.
Among the actives, MY E.G. Services climbed 3.5 sen to RM1.02, SC Estate Builder added 1.0 sen to 2.0 sen while MQ Technology and Hubline Bhd added half-a-sen each to 1.5 sen and 13 sen respectively.
Meanwhile, Ekovest Bhd was 1.0 sen lower at 48 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 58.89 points to 12,565.65, the FBMT 100 Index dropped 56.37 points to 12,143.85, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 74.23 points to 12,900.38, the FBM 70 Index declined 101.53 points to 18,746.93 and the FBM ACE Index slipped 59.50 points to 5,852.56.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index lowered by 34.90 points to 17,939.23, the Plantation Index lost 32.43 points to 7,165.49, the Industrial Products and Services Index slid 2.45 points to 194.00, and the Energy Index eased 5.08 points to 968.18.