Bursa Malaysia opens lower

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened lower today, tracking the mixed performances of its Asian peers which took the cue from the softer overnight Wall Street close.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 3.25 points to 1,760.74 from Monday's close of 1,764.03.
The index opened 3.34 point lower at 1,760.69.
On the broader market, gainers led losers by 140 to 70, with 174 counters unchanged, 1,851 untraded and 21 others were suspended.
Turnover stood at 169.65 million shares worth RM49.99 million.
In a note today, Alliance DBS Research said the market closed higher at 1,765.48 yesterday but the benchmark index did not go far up as investors were basically cautious.
In the absence of positive news flow, the market was likely to stay volatile for a little while with the bulls and bears expected to continue exchanging their positions in an attempt to fight for control of the game, it said.
"Following the higher close yesterday, we should see buying attempt again," it added.
Of the heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals gained six sen to RM7.39, TNB fell two sen to RM14.22, Public Bank eased two sen to RM20.52, while Maybank and Sime Darby were flat at RM9.55 and RM9.12, respectively.
Among active counters, M3 Technologies and Hibiscus Petroleum added two sen each at 14 sen and 70.5 sen respectively, Malayan United industries gained one sen to 19 sen while Borneo Oil and Vivocom were flat at 9.5 sen and 14 sen, respectively.
The FBM Emas Index slipped 13.41 points to 12,580.86, FBMT 100 Index fell 13.80 points to 12,230.65 and FBM Emas Syariah Index declined 4.43 points to 12,850.31.
The FBM Ace rose 24.46 points to 6,785.41 and FBM 70 increased 16.88 points to 15,129.11.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index added 11.96 points to 7,927.26 and the Industrial Index inched up 3.24 points to 3,216.57.
The Finance Index decreased 47.89 points to 16,522.24.
The physical price of gold as at 9.30am stood at RM168.96 per gramme, up 15sen from RM168.81 at 5.00pm yesterday. — Bernama