KL SHARES CLOSE LOWER AT MID-DAY

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 (Bernama) -- Share prices on Bursa Malaysia closed the morning session lower today on continued selling pressure, dealers said.

At noon break, the lack of active participation from fund managers dragged the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) 7.59 points lower to 1,227.63.

It had opened 6.48 points lower at 1,228.74 this morning.

OSK Research in a research note said investors might stay on the sidelines pending fresh leads.

"The market's immediate resistance and support lies at 1258 and 1233 respectively," it added.

The Finance Index plummeted 94.92 points to 10,680.64 and the Industrial Index lost 10.53 points to 2,550.65. The Plantation Index declined 30.37 points to 6,099.75. The FBM Emas Index meanwhile, plunged 64.15 points to 8,255.47 and the FBM70 Index fell 91.24 points to 8,089.54 while the FBM Ace Index declined 35.94 points at 4,227.91. Market breadth remained negative with decliners advancing against gainers by 470 to 102 while 217 counters were unchanged, 538 untraded and 25 others suspended. Volume stood at 364.037 million shares worth RM649.134 million. Among the heavyweights, Sime Darby was flat at RM8.31, Maybank slipped two sen to RM6.70, CIMB Group declined 10 sen to RM12.12 and Maxis rose four sen to RM5.37. Of the active stocks, Talam Corporation and KNM Group were flat at 11.5 sen and 78.5 sen respectively, Malaysian RES Corp rose 1.5 sen to 14.5 sen and Genting fell 17 sen to RM6.55. -- BERNAMA

MI AS