KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 (NNN-Bernama) — Bursa Malaysia, the stock exchange of Malaysia, extended Monday’s losses to open lower Tuesday, driven by continued profit-taking in selected heavyweights despite the positive momentum in regional markets, dealers said.
At 9.28 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 2.87 points to 1,490.69 from yesterday’s close of 1,493.56.
The market bellwether opened 1.03 points weaker at 1,492.53.
In the broader market, decliners surpassed gainers 233 to 190, while 306 counters were unchanged, 1,463 untraded, and 18 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 504.40 million units worth RM270.95 million (US$1=RM4.33).
In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the FBM KLCI staged a minor pullback on Monday, snapping a three-session winning streak as investors took profit ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays.
“Investors may take a cautious stance amid the lack of fresh catalysts environment, but overall sentiment could suggest that the downside risk is limited as the US Federal Reserve (Fed) is expected to be raising the interest rate at a softer pace going forward following the declining US consumer price index (CPI) data.
“Meanwhile, the market is waiting for Bank of Japan’s (BoJ’s) interest rate decision as well as the UK and eurozone’s inflation rate. Commodities-wise, Brent crude oil traded above US$84 per barrel while the crude palm oil (CPO) price hovered above RM3,850 per kg,” it said.
Without any significant catalysts in the market and the holiday mood in the US, the research firm expects the news on China’s Covid situation to take centre stage, providing a booster to glove stocks in the near term.
“On the other hand, we believe the traders may position themselves for China’s reopening theme beneficiary such as the consumer and shipping sectors at least for the first half of this year,” it added.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank advanced 2.0 sen to RM8.80, Public Bank and CIMB slipped 1.0 sen each to RM4.31 and 5.75 respectively, Petronas Chemicals lost 10 sen to RM8.40 while Tenaga Nasional fell 4.0 sen to RM9.41.
As for the actives, Kumpulan Kitacon rose 12.5 sen to 80.5 sen, Nationgate improved 7.0 sen to RM1.12, Serba Dinamik was flat at 1.5 sen while Revenue Group declined 7.0 sen to 68 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index reduced 18.47 points to 10,776.02, the FBMT 100 Index weakened by 18.95 points to 10,470.40, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 22.80 points to 10,989.55.
The FBM 70 Index dumped 18.91 points to 13,444.18 and the FBM ACE Index shed 26.43 points to 5,473.55.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index fell 13.61 points to 16,545.71 and the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.61 point to 186.32.
The Plantation Index ticked up 1.94 point to 6,901.27 and the Energy Index eased 2.59 points to 818.30.
— NNN-BERNAMA