KUALA LUMPUR: The local bourse opened lower almost across board today, tracking the performance of other Asia’s stocks following the sharp decline on Wall Street yesterday.
At 9.05 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 2.62 points to 1,491.99 from 1,494.61 at Monday’s close after opening 2.50 points lower at 1,492.11.
On the overall market, losers took a head start from losers 212 against 137, while 264 counters were unchanged, 1,558 untraded and 42 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 286.05 million units worth RM146.28 million.
An analyst said the market slipped yesterday after Washington failed to come to a conclusion on the stimulus package deal, making it hard to achieve an agreement before the US presidential election on Nov 3.
“As the local market tracks the movement of global stocks, it is expected that a slight bargain-hunting would occur at mid-day,” she said.
According to Bloomberg, shares in Japan, Australia and South Korea fell as the markets opened today as S&P 500 contracts fluctuated, witnessing its biggest loss in a month.
This was due to the dimmed sentiment on prospects of a stimulus package to address the Covid-19 pandemic before the Nov 3 election.
On the KLCI, Petronas Chemicals dropped seven sen to RM5.93, Sime Darby Plantation shed eight sen to RM4.89 and MISC declined seven sen to RM6.75.
Top Glove, meanwhile, added one sen to RM8.71 while Hartaleha was flat at RM17.68.
Consumer and tech-related counters emerged as active counters in early trade with Dataprep and Kanger International both adding one sen to 19.5 sen and 18.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 10.89 points to 10,798.65, the FBMT 100 Index shed 11.99 points to 10,607.55 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index gave up 15.30 points to 12,928.23.
The FBM 70, meanwhile, rose 9.69 points to 14,205.65 and the FBM ACE fell 6.72 points to 10,216.74.
The Financial Services Index erased 12.53 points to 12,293.95, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.41 of-a-point to 143.82, while the Plantation Index inched up 24.74 points to 6,935.63, and the Healthcare Index was 5.94 points stronger at 4,009.79.-Bernama
