KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 (NNN-Bernama) — Bursa Malaysia, the stock exchange of Malaysia, opened mixed on cautious sentiments ahead of Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) (central bank) interest rate decision Thursday.
At 9.13 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched down by 1.30 points to 1,453.36 from Wednesday’s closing of 1,454.66.
The key index opened 0.16 points higher at 1,454.82.
However, market breadth was positive with gainers surpassing decliners 176 to 137, while 227 counters were unchanged, 1,703 untraded and 21 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 211.81 million units worth RM98.23 million (US$1 = RM4.52).
In a note Thursday, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the local bourse is likely to continue to trade sideways amidst growing selling pressure from foreign funds, as investors await the overnight policy rate decision by BNM.
“Investors may position themselves in the banking sector prior to the Monetary Policy Committee meeting,” it said.
In the meantime, Bursa heavyweights Maybank added four sen to RM8.71, Kuala Lumpur Kepong gained 18 sen to RM21.20, Public Bank climbed one sen to RM4.12 and Dialog perked three sen to RM2.41, while MISC was flat at RM7.40.
Among the actives, Hong Seng Consolidated was one sen firmer at 14.5 sen, AwanBiru Technology rose by 2.5 sen to 41.5 sen and Vinvest Capital inched up half-a-sen to 23 sen, while Astro gave up 1.5 sen to 71.5 sen and Tanco lost two sen to 47 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased by 7.06 points to 10,598.69, the FBM 70 Index fell 17.24 points to 13,471.72, the FBMT 100 Index dwindled by 10.10 points to 10,273.23, the FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 20.77 points to 10,838.01, while the FBM ACE Index was 34.21 points higher at 5,489.77.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index added 27.41 points to 16132.97 and the Energy Index bagged 1.21 points to 891.81, while the Plantation Index shrank 35.34 points to 6,904.09 and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.25 of-a-point to 176.97.
— NNN-BERNAMA