Bursa Malaysia opens mixed

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened mixed with selling activities seen in selected heavyweights.
At 9.10am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 3.7 points to 1,772.1, after opening 0.95 of-a-point easier at 1,774.85 against Monday's close of 1,775.8.
Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) said all eyes will be on President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un's Summit in Singapore today.
"But trading could be choppy ahead of the US Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of Japan policy meetings this week. Automotive stocks could steal some limelight after Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that he planned to start a new national car project," it added.
Looking at the longer-term trend, Maybank IB said the bears could continue to have the upper hand.
"Any rebound from here is likely to be short-lived. Once 1,709 gives way, we believe the FBM KLCI could face a steeper correction ahead," it added.
On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 126 to 111, while 163 counters remained unchanged, 1,497 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 179.68 million shares worth RM110.52 million.
The FBM Emas Index trimmed 13.31 points to 12,449.57, the FBMT100 Index declined 14.75 points to 12,244.8 and the FBM Emas Syariah Index shed 3.84 points to 12,499.09.
The FBM 70 increased 18.93 points to 14,955.73 but the FBM Ace was 2.15 points easier at 5,315.5.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Index rose 8.19 points to 3,202.09, the Finance Index slid 34.58 points to 17,721.58, and the Plantation Index slipped 7.26 points to 7,730.94.
Among heavyweights, Maybank eased four sen to RM9.72, Public Bank fell two sen to RM24.32, TNB lost 20 sen to RM14.36, CIMB went down three sen to RM6.18 while Petronas Chemicals, Axiata and Hong Leong Bank were all flat at RM8.38, RM4.79 and RM19.12, respectively.
Of the actives, Sapura Energy rose three sen to 66.5 sen, MYEG and Frontken both edged up one sen to 95 sen and 45.5 sen, respectively, while Shin Yang Shipping Corp added 1.5 sen to 35.5 sen and Asdion was flat at 29.5 sen.
The physical price of gold as at 9.30am stood at RM160.96 per gramme, up 27 sen from RM160.69 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama