KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia remained lower at midday as sentiment on the local front remained negative, mirroring the mixed performance on regional markets, said an analyst. 

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 2.37 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 1,629.86 from Thursday's close of 1,632.23.

The benchmark index opened 0.79 of-a-point firmer at 1,633.02.

On the broader market, decliners beat gainers 556 to 337 while 450 counters were unchanged, 1,159 untraded and 31 suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.38 billion units valued at RM905.31 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd believes that traders would shift towards export-oriented stocks like gloves and technology, thus certain glove stocks are poised for a breakout. 

The brokerage also sees potential upside in the construction, property, and renewable energy sectors. 

"We also favour the plantation sector as crude palm oil prices have closed above two-year highs," it said in a note. 

ActivTrades trader Anderson Alves said Asian equities are expected to trade positively on Friday with the primary catalyst for market risk flows being the upcoming US elections. 

"The weakening US dollar seems to be tempering the 'Trump Trade' for now, but key events such as the US Non-Farm Payrolls report and the Federal Open Market Committee meeting are scheduled over the next two weeks. 

"Traders are likely to focus on digesting recent market movements as the Federal Reserve enters its blackout period," he told Bernama. 

Meanwhile, US corporate earnings continue to support near-term sentiment, and the corporate buyback window, reopening next week, could introduce fresh buying pressure, he said.

Back home, heavyweights Maybank added two sen to RM10.60, Tenaga Nasional gained six sen to RM14.42 and IHH Healthcare rose seven sen to RM7.48. 

Public Bank declined nine sen to RM4.43 and CIMB Group was flat at RM8.13.

As for the actives, Ingenieur Gudang, JAG and Kinergy Advancement eased half-a-sen to five sen, 30 sen, and 33 sen, respectively, and YNH Property shed 1.5 sen to 47.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 20.45 points to 12,279.25, the FBM 70 Index dropped by 35.14 points to 17,713.17, and the FBMT 100 Index slipped 19.26 points to 11,982.37. 

However, the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 3.82 points to 12,248.37 and the FBM ACE Index edged up 2.12 points to 5,113.06.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dived 77.93 points to 19,329.63, the Energy Index slid 8.09 points to 850.94, while the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 0.72 of-a-point to 176.54 and the Plantation Index improved 37.71 points to 7,317.82.

 - BERNAMA