KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia retreated from its gains last week to open lower on Monday due to cautious sentiments on the local bourse, taking its cue from the mixed Wall Street performance last week, an analyst said.
At 9.15 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell by 2.73 points to 1,471.86 from Friday’s close of 1,474.59.
The key index opened 0.13 points better at 1,474.72.
The market breadth was negative with losers surpassing gainers 246 to 153, while 317 counters were unchanged, 1,459 untraded and nine others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 153.85 million units worth RM473.42 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of Equity Research, Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street ended on a mixed note last Friday as traders pondered over the United States (US) Federal Reserve’s next move amid various mixed economic signals.
The Dow Jones Index Average rose by 169 points, but the Nasdaq lost 71 points as the US Treasury 10-year yield inched higher above the 3.74 per cent mark.
Back home, broad-based bargain hunting finally emerged on the local bourse last week as investors snapped up banking and energy-related stocks.
“However, we reckon trading activities may turn cautious following Wall Street’s mixed performance, hence we expect the index to hover within the 1,470-1,480 range today,” he told Bernama.
Thong also believes that tech-related counters may face some headwinds today on higher US treasury rates.
As for commodities, despite improved output from the US, the crude oil price had increased with Brent crude edging above US$86 per barrel.
Meanwhile, Bursa heavyweights Maybank gained 2.0 sen to RM8.77 and CIMB added 3.0 sen to RM5.40, while both Tenaga Nasional and IHH Healthcare lost 3.0 sen to RM9.74 and RM5.87, respectively, and Petronas Chemicals slid 7.0 sen to RM8.18.
As for the actives, Iris and MYEG both slipped 1.5 sen to 12 sen and 59.5 sen, respectively, Zen Tech and its warrant decreased half-a-sen each to 3.0 sen and 1.5 sen, respectively, while Sapura Energy increased half-a-sen to 5.0 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 22.38 points to 10,717.66, the FBMT 100 Index eased 20.39 points to 10,385.34, the FBM 70 Index reduced 31.30 points to 13,538.68, the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 36.92 points to 11,009.49 and the FBM ACE Index was 46.64 points lower at 5,697.36.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index slid 4.62 points to 6,882.03, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.23 points to 188.92 and the Energy Index lost 4.60 points to 891.77, while the Financial Services Index edged up 19.35 points to 16,132.72, - Bernama
