KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session lower on selling pressure in most indices, led by the technology, consumer, industrial products and services counters, amidst mixed regional market performance.

       At lunch break, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 4.19 points to 1,599.11 from 1,603.30 at Friday’s close.

       The key index opened 2.84 points higher at 1,606.14 and moved between 1,597.39 and 1,606.14 throughout the session.

       On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 349 to 266, while 905 counters were unchanged, 790 untraded and 54 others suspended.

       Total turnover stood at 1.38 billion worth RM814.99 million.

       In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said investors may continue to put recovery-themed stocks on their radar, including banking, tourism and consumer stocks, in light of the reopening of the borders on April 1, 2022.

       "Additionally, commodity-related counters are likely to stay upbeat on the back of elevated commodity prices environment.

       "Another catalyst in the current market sentiment is the much-speculated 15th General Election that will be held in the second half of 2022, which may boost trading activities in construction and building material stocks,” it said.

       Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose by five sen to RM8.95, Petronas Chemicals bagged 21 sen to RM9.81 and MISC increased seven sen to RM7.34, while Public Bank and Tenaga Nasional were flat at RM4.66 and RM9.32, respectively.

       Of the actives, Widad Group added half-a-sen to 36 sen, BSL Corporation decreased half-a-sen to 19.5 sen, Dagang Nexchange fell two sen to RM1.04 and Dataprep eased three sen to 28 sen.

       On the index board, FBM 70 declined by 76.58 points to 13,734.09, FBM Emas Index was 35.60 points lower at 11,422.69, FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 65.22 points to 12,021.37, FBMT 100 Index deducted 36.74 points to 11,106.26 and FBM ACE shed 31.28 points to 5,584.00.

       Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.53 points to 205.72 and the Financial Services Index rose 2.67 points to 16,746.40, while the Plantation Index weakened 34.36 points to 8,049.22. - Bernama