KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended lower at midday, impacted by declines in the financial services and healthcare sectors.
At 12:35 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell by 0.14 per cent, losing 2.34 points to 1,614.41 from Thursday's close of 1,616.75.
The broader market was negative, with 573 losers outnumbering 375 gainers, and 488 counters unchanged.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd noted that traders remain bullish on the markets, seeing potential in healthcare stocks.
"We believe the ongoing catalyst of data centre investments, coupled with the potential announcement on Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high speed rail (KL-SG HSR) in the second half of 2024 (2H24), will provide a boost to the construction, property, building materials, and utilities sectors.
"Additionally, the Technology stocks will be a long-term theme with the rising adoption of AI and cloud services," the firm said.
In the commodity markets, Brent oil experienced a breakout from a pennant formation due to declining US inventories and an improved future demand outlook, while gold prices remained around US$2,350.
Meanwhile, crude palm oil (CPO) pulled back but stayed above the significant support level of RM4,000.