By Kisho Kumari Sucedaram
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 2 (NNN-Bernama) — Bursa Malaysia, the stock exchange of Malaysia, opened lower Monday as sentiment remained jittery over the deepening debt crisis of property developer China Evergrande Group coupled with the ineffectiveness of the Chinese government’s stimulus package, a dealer said.
At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 0.30 of-a-point to 1,423.87 from last Friday’s closing of 1,424.17.
The index opened 0.10 of-a-point easier at 1,424.07.
On the broader market, decliners surpassed gainers 155 to 131, while 265 counters were unchanged, 1,744 untraded and eight suspended.
Turnover stood at 169.92 million units worth RM72.89 million (US$1=RM4.70).
According to a news report, the company is in negotiations with overseas creditors on a restructuring plan to work out over US$30 billion in defaulted debt and other claims.
The report said Evergrande is the world’s most heavily indebted real estate developer and is at the centre of a property market crisis that drags on China’s economic growth.
Nevertheless, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said bargain-hunting activities are expected to emerge on the local front, buoyed by the positive developments in the United States (US).
Yesterday, US President Joe Biden signed a stopgap bill to avert the shutdown passed by the Congress until Nov 17, 2023.
“Thus we expect the FBM KLCI index to trend higher to within the 1,430 to 1,440 range today,” Thong told Bernama.
Among the heavyweight counters, Maybank and CIMB improved one sen to RM8.80 and RM5.44 respectively, and Public Bank added two sen to RM4.08, while Tenaga Nasional lost eight sen to RM9.91 and Petronas Chemicals fell two sen to RM7.17.
Of the actives, Evergreen and Kinergy added half-a-sen to 43 sen and 34.5 sen, respectively, and Parkson edged up one sen to 31.5 sen, while Tanco Holdings and Widad were unchanged at 55 sen and 51 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shed 0.93 of-a-point to 10,581.34, the FBMT 100 Index trimmed 1.94 points to 10,242.56, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 11.02 points to 10,863.50.
The FBM ACE Index dropped 20.55 points to 5,154.69 and the FBM 70 Index slid by 1.77 points to 14,191.50.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index gained 0.24 of-a-point to 171.73, the Financial Services Index rose 34.99 points to 15,953.16, and the Energy Index went up 4.12 points to 897.86.
However, the Plantation Index fell 8.63 points to 6,871.72.
— NNN-BERNAMA