KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 (NNN-Bernama) — Bursa Malaysia, the stock exchange of Malaysia, opened mixed on Friday as investors appeared to trade cautiously following Wall Street’s negative performance, as sentiments turned fragile over mounting concerns about the US debt ceiling and stability of the banking industry.
At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 3.72 points to 1,428.90 from Thursday’s close of 1,428.90.
However, market breadth remained negative with decliners surpassing advancers 146 to 112, while 238 counters were unchanged, 1,765 untraded and 32 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 207.34 million units worth RM90.55 million (US$20.2 million).
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said on Wall Street, investors are shifting their focus towards the technology sector in anticipation of the US Federal Reserve keeping the interest rate unchanged next month.
Currently, it said the Nasdaq is relatively stronger than the Dow Jones Index’s movement.
“Closer to home, investors may start to position in solid fundamental stocks prior to the earnings season,” it said in a note, adding that the technology sector may see further rebound following the uptrend on Nasdaq.
Meanwhile, further profit-taking activities may occur in the energy sector, while investors may favour gold counters given the solid gold price.
On commodities, the brokerage said Brent crude oil declined to below the US$75 per barrel mark, while crude palm oil (CPO) price hovered above RM3,600 per tonne (US$1 = RM4.47).
Among the heavyweights, Maybank added one sen to RM8.75, Petronas Chemicals gained six sen to RM7.22, CIMB increased two sen to RM4.97 and Tenaga Nasional was 11 sen higher at RM9.20, while Public Bank was flat at RM4.01.
As for the actives, Zen Tech, Vinvest and Widad were all flat at 2.0 sen, 19.5 sen and 42.5 sen, respectively.
Dagang Nexchange slid 1.0 sen to 45 sen, while Salutica went up 7.5 sen to 95.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 12.68 points to 10,443.61, the FBMT 100 Index edged up 13.14 points to 10,140.66, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose by 19.63 points to 10,788.18 and the FBM ACE Index garnered 1.19 points to 5,027.39, while the FBM 70 index trimmed 37.59 points to 13,472.36.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.01 of-a-point to 168.48, the Financial Services Index climbed 15.10 points to 15,603.32 and the Plantation Index rose 10.43 points to 6,924.74, while the Energy Index decreased 4.53 points to 827.28.
— NNN-BERNAMA