KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed lower at midday, with laggards outnumbering gainers by two times.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 0.28 per cent, losing 4.46 points to 1,608.79, compared to its last close of 1,613.25.
The broader market was negative, as losers led gainers at 608 to 302, while 474 counters remained unchanged.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said as the market approaches year-end, window dressing activities may emerge across blue-chips, especially for banking and plantation heavyweights.
"Meanwhile, we believe buying interest to pick up in the utilities, construction, and building materials sectors, driven by the recent recovery in YTL Corp Bhd and YTL Power International Bhd share prices, along with earnings realisation from the construction of data center facilities."
"Opportunities will shift towards data centre midstream industries in the Technology sector, such as IT solutions, cybersecurity, hard disk drive (HDD), electronics manufacturing services (EMS) and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT), following the commencement of data construction earlier this year," it said.