Bursa Malaysia slipped into the red due to a decline in interest after two days of rally in line with other Asian stocks on the back of declining oil prices as well as US treasury rise.

At 9.10am, the key index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 12.38 points to 1,312.12 after opening 9.23 points higher.

However, the index shifted into the red after one minute of trading.

On the broader market, gainers trumped losers 220 to 122, with 198 counters unchanged, 1,479 untraded and 26 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 223.38 million shares worth RM126.89 million.

An analyst said that the two-day strong performance due to bargain hunting across board was a global trend following the oil price movements.

“The declining performance on today’s index board was also seen on Japan’s Nikkei which fell more than two percent amid further efforts to contain the movement of people due to Covid-19,” she said.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday announced an extension of the movement control order until April 14 to further curb the rising toll of the pandemic virus.

Of the heavyweights, Petronas Dagangan shed 48 sen to RM19.52, PPB lost 38 sen to RM16.52, Digi declined 10 sen to RM4.05, Sime Darby Plantation declined 13 sen to RM4.57 and Hap Seng Consolidation went down 32 sen to RM7.48.

Of the top losers, Allianz Malaysia dropped 88 sen to RM11.82 and Hong Leong Financial was 68 sen lower at RM12.76.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index contracted 69.24 points to 8,918.83, the FBM Emas Shariah Index narrowed 66.77 points to 9,704.09 and the FBM 70 gave up 56.25 points to 9,976.12.

The FBMT 100 Index eased 76.45 points to 8,852.78 and the FBM Ace depreciated 11.00 points to 3,647.27.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.89 point to 100.09, the Financial Services Index reduced 107.41 points to 12,041.01 and the Plantation Index was 93.24 points lower at 5,920.67.

- Bernama