KUALA LUMPUR, May 19 (NNN-Bernama) — Bursa Malaysia, the stock exchange of Malaysia, opened on a low note on Friday morning, dragged down by selling in the heavyweights, particularly Sime Darby Plantation and the financial services counters amidst weak market sentiment.
At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 2.83 points to 1,425.21 from 1,428.04 at Thursday’s close.
The barometer index opened 2.59 points weaker at 1,425.45.
Market breadth was negative with losers leading gainers 141 to 104, while 215 counters were unchanged, 1,784 untraded and 14 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 153.79 million units worth RM77.53 million (US$1 = RM4.55).
Sime Darby Plantation’s losses pushed the composite index down by 1.25 points after slipping 11 sen or 2.41 per cent to RM4.45.
At the same time, financial counters CIMB lost four sen to RM4.97, Public Bank and Maybank eased one sen each to RM3.96 and RM8.75, respectively, while AMMB Holdings shed two sen to RM3.55.
Altogether, these stocks dragged FBM KLCI down by a combined 1.32 points.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the local bourse is experiencing the shifting of funds into other sectors amid investors’ rotational plays on selected heavyweights.
He believed some profit-taking had emerged as regional markets turned volatile on the back of mixed market sentiments, premised on optimism over the United States debt ceiling and a spate of disappointing economic data from China.
“We may see some bargain-hunting in the banking sector, hence we anticipate the index to possibly trend within the 1,425-1,435 range today,” he told Bernama.
Among the heavyweights, Tenaga Nasional slipped one sen to RM9.78, while Petronas Chemicals and IHH Healthcare were flat at RM7.01 and RM5.95, respectively.
Main Market debutant DXN Holdings was the most actively traded stock this morning, losing 1.5 sen over its initial public offering price of 70 sen.
As for the other active counters, TWL Holdings, Tanco, Vsolar, and Vinvest were flat at 4.5 sen, 50.5 sen, one sen and seven sen, respectively, while Supermax inched up half-a-sen to RM1.00.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shaved 18.31 points to 10,463.46, the FBMT 100 Index declined 19.27 points to 10,463.46, the FBM Emas Shariah Index went down 12.02 points to 10,841.48, the FBM ACE Index contracted 12.9 points to 4,976.22, while the FBM 70 Index lost 22.38 points to 13,663.15.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.11 of-a-point to 166.11, the Financial Services Index fell 34.23 points to 15,534.71, and the Plantation Index decreased 44.93 points to 7,014.07.
However, the Energy Index gained 3.61 points to 848.65.
— NNN-BERNAMA
