KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 (NNN-Bernama) — Bursa Malaysia’s barometer index was lower in early trade in a cautiously optimistic market undertone amid modest strength on Wall Street.
At 9.15 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 1.92 points to 1,452.67 from 1,454.59 at Friday’s close.
The barometer index opened at 1,453.72.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said that while the Dow Jones added 76 points, the Nasdaq gained almost 13 points as the US 10-year yield inched slightly higher at 4.26 per cent.
The Hong Kong market was closed due to a severe storm warning last Friday.
On the home front, he said the market is particularly concerned about the sharp decline in volume last Friday and hopes that it will improve in due course.
“The recently concluded by-elections should inject additional political stability into the country, thus more funds should flow into the equity market.
“As such, despite the cautious mode sentiment, we expect the index to hover within the 1,450-1,460 range today with interest in the oil and gas counters buoyed by the spike in crude oil prices that saw Brent crude closing in on US$91 per barrel,” he told Bernama.
He said the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) Mid-Term Review to be announced today is likely to boost related counters.
Among the Bursa Malaysia heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB rose one sen to RM9.15 (US$1=RM4.67) and RM5.70 respectively, while Petronas Chemicals eased six sen to RM7.11 as of 9.28 am.
Of the actives, KNM and Luster dropped half-a-sen to 11.5 sen and 7.5 sen respectively as of 9.30 am.
— NNN-BERNAMA