Bursa Malaysia opens higher but turns negative thereafter
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened higher but turned negative thereafter on continued negative market sentiment concerning a global trade war.
At 9.10am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.18 of-a-point easier at 1,677.92 from Monday's close of 1,678.10.
The index opened 1.14 points higher at 1,679.24.
On the broader market, losers led gainers 223 to 89, while 146 counters were unchanged, 1,457 untraded and 28 others suspended.
Volume stood at 229.19 million units valued at RM74.16 million.
In a note today, Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd said technically the benchmark index is bearishly biased at this juncture and the continuous negative sentiment could see the index falling even lower to 1,615.
"Should a positive turnaround occur, overhead resistances can be found at 1,720 and 1,760," it said.
Meanwhile, Maybank IB Research said the market would likely extend its decline today as sentiment will be weighed by fear of a full-blown trade war.
It noted that oil and gas stocks could come under pressure on falling oil prices.
"Technically, we expect the FBM KLCI to trade between 1,630 and 1,710 today. Downside supports are realigned to 1,650 and 1,630," it said.
For heavyweights on Bursa, Maybank slid five sen to RM9.03, Public Bank added 12 sen to RM22.84, Tenaga was four sen lower at RM13.82, Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM8.44 and CIMB dipped three sen to RM5.37.
Among actives, DBE and Borneo Oil were flat at three sen and seven sen respectively, while Sapura Energy fell one sen to 64.5 sen.
Hong Leong Bank led the top losers list by giving up 24 sen to RM17.88, followed by United Plantations which eased 20 sen to RM27.00 and PPB which shed 18 sen to RM19.46.
The FBM Emas Index slid 13.68 points to 11,866.07 and the FBM70 was 22.21 points lower at 14,494.20.
The FBMT100 Index shed 11.26 points to 11,654.57 and the FBM Emas Syariah Index dipped 7.27 points to 12,014.13.
The FBM Ace Index was down 11.97 points at 5,149.55. — Bernama
Sector-wise, the Finance Index dropped 55.69 points to 16,519.25, the Industrial Index lost 4.72 points to 3,112.97 but the Plantation Index recovered 24.93 points to 7,557.88.
The physical price of gold as at 9.30am stood at RM158.45 per gramme, down 19 sen from RM158.64 at 5pm yesterday.