KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia remained in the negative territory at midday, dragged mainly by healthcare-related and telco counters.

       At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI declined 1.59 points to 1,514.17.

       There were 272 gainers, 564 losers and 317 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia. Turnover stood at 1.3 billion shares worth at RM875.04mil.

       Malacca Securities believed profit taking activities might emerged in the local bourse taking cue from the softer performances on Wall Street following the Fed’s confirmation on the upcoming rate hikes direction and continuous bond tapering moving forward.

       “On a side note, the festive season maximum price control scheme for the Chinese New Year may impact the poultry and consumer-related sectors.

       “Commodities wise, both the CPO and crude oil prices rose, with the latter closing just slightly below the US$90 per barrel mark,” it said.

       Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade anticipated the index to trend around the 1,500-1,515 range today.

       “While the Brent crude is inching closer to the US$90 a barrel, the crude palm oil is also set to end January at record high currently hovering at RM5500 per tonne,” it said.

       Hartalega fell seven sen to RM5.42, Top Glove lost four sen to RM2.04 and IHH Healthcare declined two sen to RM6.34.

       Among the telcos, Digi fell five sen to RM3.77, Axiata eased three sen to RM3.64, Telekom Malaysia declined two sen to RM5.04 and Maxis gave up one sen to RM4.24

       On the broader market, Dutch Lady fell 50 sen to RM32.10, Vitrox lost 28 sen to RM7.67 and Heineken shed 26 sen to RM20.40.