By Rosemarie Khoo
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 (NNN-Bernama) — Bursa Malaysia, the stock exchange of Malaysia, opened almost flat Thursday amid the downbeat performance on Wall Street overnight, said an analyst.
At 9.05 am Thursday, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.24 of-a-point easier to 1,462.13 from Wednesday’s close of 1,462.37.
The benchmark index, however, opened 0.48 of-a-point higher at 1,462.85.
On the broader market, losers slightly outpaced gainers 165 to 158, while 297 counters were unchanged, 1,600 were untraded and 16 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 290.01 million units worth RM98.13 million (US$1=RM4.642).
Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed broadly lower due to profit-taking as sentiment were dictated by the interpretations of the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) stance on interest rates.
As a result, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 284 points while the Nasdaq declined by 174 points mainly due to the sell-down on Apple following a downgrade. The US 10-year Treasury yield dipped slightly to 3.92 per cent.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index maintained its downtrend amid the slump on Wall Street and the expectations on interest rates. Pessimism over China’s economic recovery also fuelled the selling on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
On the local front, Thong said the FBM KLCI finally reversed its decline to close above the 1,460 level as bargain hunters appeared during the afternoon session on Wednesday.
“For today, we reckon the accumulation of stocks to persist and maintain that banks should stay in the limelight.
“As such, we expect the index to hover at the 1,460-1,470 range today with the 1,465 mark as a major road bump. If this level is broken decisively, then the 1,500 mark is definitely within reach,” Thong told Bernama.
Of the banking heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank both added 1.0 sen to RM8.90 and RM4.28 respectively, while PPB Group rose 12.0 sen to RM14.68, QL Resources increased 5.0 sen to RM5.78, and CIMB eased 1.0 sen to RM5.89.
YTL Power International gained 1.0 sen to RM2.81 and Hong Leong Bank rose 2.0 sen to RM18.52.
Of the actives, Minetech added 2.5 sen to 20.0 sen, Hong Seng Consolidated was flat at 3.0 sen, MMAG rose 1.0 sen to 16 sen, and Edaran soared 24 sen to RM1.45.
On the index board, the FBM ACE Index climbed 6.89 points to 5,374.39, the FBM Emas Index fell 2.75 points to 10,900.18 and the FBMT 100 Index dipped 2.85 points to 10,553.15.
The FBM 70 Index shed 8.63 points to 14,762.55 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slid 8.49 points to 11,073.41.
Sector-wise, the Property Index increased 0.79 of-a-point to 898.70, the Industrial Products and Services Index declined 0.08 of-a-point to 176.36, and the Energy Index ticked up 0.60 of-a-point to 821.44.
The Financial Services Index improved 14.28 points to 16,324.82 but the Plantation Index dropped 6.26 points to 7,006.38.
— NNN-BERNAMA