KUALA LUMPUR: Selling pressure picked up pace in late morning trade on Friday, March 12 as investors took profit ahead of the weekend, with CIMB and KL Kepong among the major decliners.

At 10.58am, the FBM KLCI was down 10.63 points to 1,310.8. Turnover was 215.9 million shares valued at RM321 million. The broader market weakened, with 347 losers and 131 gainers.

KL Kepong fell 26 sen to RM16.64 with 120,700 shares done. CIMB lost 22 sen to RM13.82 while MPI gave up 12 sen to RM6.78. DiGi lost 12 sen also to RM22.48.

RHB Research Institute, had in its technical outlook, cautioned that Thursday’s sharp negative reversal on the FBM KLCI calls for a temporary consolidation ahead.

It said the selling was dampened further by the T+4 forced-selling activities from Monday’s 1.16 billion shares high volume, the index could see follow-through retracement towards a lower technical gap near the 1,300.74 - 1,312.18 region soon.

“We stay bullish on the FBM KLCI’s medium-term outlook on expectation that the 1,300 psychological level will cap immediate bearish momentum,” it said.