KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened marginally higher but retreated thereafter despite the positive overnight performance on Wall Street, as investors assessed the US Federal Reserve’s shift towards an easing policy aimed at stimulating economic growth rather than combating inflation.
At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 1.25 points or 0.07 per cent to 1,597.68 from yesterday’s close of 1,598.93
The benchmark index had opened marginally higher by 0.06 of a point at 1,598.99.
Market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 197 to 111, while 257 counters were unchanged, 2,083 untraded and 13 suspended.
Turnover stood at 204.51 million units worth RM91.01 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the market was indeed surprised by yesterday’s sell-down, which came amid some profit-taking despite expectations that the local bourse would remain well supported.
“Nonetheless, we view this as a brief correction and believe that bargain hunters will return soon. As such, we anticipate the index to trend within the 1,600–1,610 range today,” he told Bernama.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell three sen to RM9.85 and CIMB eased two sen to RM7.30. Public Bank and IHH gained one sen each to RM4.26 and RM7.32 respectively, while Tenaga bagged two sen to RM13.30.
In active trade, TWL and Zetrix Ai were half a sen lower at 2.5 sen and 86.5 sen respectively, NexG increased one sen to 49.5 sen, 3Ren added 1.5 sen to 41 sen and HHRG was flat at 12 sen.
Top losers included Petronas Dagangan, which reduced 60 sen to RM22.34, Petronas Gas slid eight sen to RM18.20, Kim Hin slipped six sen to 70.5 sen, Go Hub 5.5 sen easier at 81.5 sen and Sunway Construction five sen weaker at RM6.30.
Among the top gainers are Nestle, which climbed RM1 to RM96.00, MPI advanced 34 sen to RM28.88, Fraser & Neave rose 16 sen to RM26.96, UWC jumped 14 sen to RM3.47 and United Malacca bagged 10 sen to RM5.50.
On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index added 6.11 points to 11,894.02, the FBMT 100 Index went up 4.01 points to 11,644.26 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 8.45 points to 11,923.55.
The FBM 70 Index climbed 63.64 points to 16,743.38, while the FBM ACE Index was 7.29 points higher at 4,878.97.
By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.32 of-a-point to 167.01, the Plantation Index advanced 12.36 points to 7,744.93, the Energy Index gained 1.62 points to 754.67, but the Financial Services Index lost 10.29 points to 18,086.67.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
