KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 (NNN-Bernama) — Bursa Malaysia, the stock exchange of Malaysia, opened lower on Thursday due to profit-taking in selected heavyweights, in line with the weaker sentiment in the regional bourses as investors remained concerned over the bearish economic outlook, dealers said.
At 9.15 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 5.50 points to 1,458.01 from 1,463.51 at Wednesday’s close.
The key index opened 2.90 points easier at 1,460.61.
On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 272 to 141, while 310 counters were unchanged, 1,617 untraded and 16 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 512.11 million units worth RM135.84 million (US$1=RM4.64).
In a note today, Malacca Securities said it expects the positive performance in recent days to sustain, with foreign funds continuing its net buying mode.
“The FBM KLCI outperformed the mostly negative regional markets, driven by final hour buying in selected utilities and banking heavyweights.
“The lower liners may also capitalise on the positive market breadth with rotational play noticeable within the construction and property-related stocks,” it said.
However, the negative developments on Wall Street overnight following the hawkish undertone from the United States Federal Reserve may limit the upside potential in the local market today, it said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank was flat at RM9.03, while Public Bank and Petronas Chemicals declined 3.0 sen each to RM4.16 and RM6.82, respectively, CIMB went down 5.0 sen to RM5.68 and Tenaga Nasional fell 8.0 sen to RM9.91.
Of the actives, Hong Seng rose 1.0 sen to 7.0 sen and Sapura Energy was flat at 5.5 sen, while Aimflex eased half-a-sen to 20 sen and Awanbiru shed 17.5 sen to 22.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 34.77 points lower at 10,735.09, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 35.46 points to 10,417.25, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 31.86 points to 10,935.09, the FBM 70 Index decreased 31.79 points to 14,128.66 and the FBM ACE Index shed 44.68 points to 5,333.06.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dipped 51.51 points to 16,364.43, the Plantation Index reduced 25.47 points to 7,008.99, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.54 of-a-point to 167.90, and the Energy Index slid 4.66 points to 825.61.
— NNN-BERNAMA