KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 14 (NNN-Bernama) — Bursa Malaysia, the stock exchange of Malaysia, pared Tuesday’s gains in early trade Wednesday, mirroring the overnight performance on Wall Street which tumbled in the wake of a US consumer inflation reading that exceeded expectations and increased uncertainty over early rate cuts.
At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 3.46 points to 1,527.91 from Tuesday’s close of 1,531.37.
The barometer index opened 3.58 points easier at 1,527.79.
On the broader market, losers led gainers at 238 to 67, while 208 counters were unchanged, 1,787 untraded and 10 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 128.9 million units worth RM46.44 million (US$1=RM4.783).
Wall Street tumbled following higher-than-expected consumer inflation reading for January, raising the uncertainty of early rate cuts.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.35 per cent to end at 38,272.75, Nasdaq eased 1.80 per cent to close at 15,655.60, and S&P500 eased 1.37 per cent to finish at 4,953.17.
Rakuten Trade head of research Kenny Yee said the FBM KLCI surged past the 1,520 mark with ease as it closed above the 1,530 level Tuesday, attributed to the continuous buying of blue chips by foreign funds.
“Though daily volume remains low, we believe if such accumulation of blue chips is sustained, the improving liquidity will cascade into the smaller caps, hence enticing retailers back into action,” he said in a note.
He also said that the key index is anticipated to hover within the 1,525-1,535 range today as sentiment may have turned cautious, no thanks to Wall Street’s performance overnight.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank lost four sen to RM9.40, Public Bank eased one sen to RM4.39, CIMB fell five sen to RM6.29, Tenaga Nasional trimmed four sen to RM11.04, and Petronas Chemicals shed one sen to RM6.83.
As for the actives, Bintai Kinden was flat at 7.5 sen, Widad was half-a-sen easier at 12.5 sen, YNH Property added one sen to 68.5 sen, and Tanco warrant was flat at 29.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dropped 25.97 points to 11,348.03, the FBMT 100 Index edged down 24.59 points to 11,005.20, the FBM 70 Index retreated 32.93 points to 15,301.38, the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 22.52 points to 11,390.12, and the FBM ACE Index erased 26.50 points to 4,807.02.
Sector-wise, the Property Index inched dropped 4.45 points to 923.11, the Plantation Index declined 12.82 points to 7,263.81, and the Energy Index slipped 0.70 of-a-point to 890.70.
The Financial Services Index fell 39.85 points to 17,108.41, and the Industrial Products and Services Index reduced 0.23 of-a-point to 174.53.
— NNN-BERNAMA