By Sharifah Pirdaus Syed Ali
KUALA LUMPUR, June 21 (NNN-Bernama) — Bursa Malaysia, the stock exchange of Malaysia, opened lower Wednesday, taking its cue from Wall Street’s weaker performance overnight as strong housing data strengthened the prospect of higher interest rates, inadvertently taking the steam out of the weeks-long rally in the United States (US) equities.
Dealers said investors remained cautious as they await US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s upcoming testimony before Congress later today for clues on the market direction.
At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 3.39 points to 1,384.94 from 1,388.33 at Tuesday’s close.
The key index opened 2.60 points lower at 1,385.73.
On the broader market, losers led gainers 172 to 88, while 204 counters were unchanged, 1,831 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 141.83 million units worth RM45.50 million (US$1=RM4.65).
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street took a breather from its strong run-up since May as traders are now looking for new catalysts for equities to trend higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 245 points while the Nasdaq lost 22 points as the US 10-year yield dipped to 3.719 per cent, he said to Bernama.
Back home, he noted that the FBM KLCI remained in consolidation mode despite closing in positive territory yesterday due to last-minute buying again.
“News on the dissolution of the six state assemblies have heightened expectations that the state election may be sooner rather than later, and will see sentiments to remain cautious for now.
“Therefore, we reckon the index to hover within the 1,385-1,395 range, with tech-related stocks to see some profit-taking activities today after the strong run-up since end-May,” he said.
Among the heavyweights, Tenaga Nasional slipped five sen to RM9.17 and IHH Healthcare fell eight sen to RM5.92, while Maybank, Public Bank and CIMB were flat at RM8.65, RM3.88 and RM5.14, respectively.
Of the actives, Classita and Tanco warrant edged up half-a-sen each to 9.5 sen and 19.5 sen, respectively, and Sarawak Consolidated eased half-a-sen to 43 sen, while Tanco and Dataprep were flat at 51 sen and 17.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 21.43 points lower at 10,184.11, the FBMT 100 Index reduced 22.09 points to 9,884.40, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 33.91 points to 10,478.45, the FBM 70 Index declined 20.99 points to 13,360.36 and the FBM ACE Index trimmed 10.58 points to 5,078.48.
Sector-wise, the Energy Index added 0.99 points to 780.99 and the Financial Services Index gained 5.16 points to 15,318.69, while the Industrial Products and Services Index gave up 0.06 of-a-point to 157.98, and the Plantation Index fell 34.65 points to 6,705.72.
— NNN-BERNAMA