FBM KLCI Opens Marginally Higher 

By Karina Imran

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened slightly higher in early trade but retreated thereafter due to mild profit-taking activities following significant gains from last week, said an analyst. 

At 9.15 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 1.30 points to 1,644.69, compared with Friday's close of 1,645.99. 

bootstrap slideshow

The benchmark index opened 0.72 of-a-point firmer at 1,646.71.

Market breadth was negative, with 363 decliners outpacing 137 gainers, while 302 counters remained unchanged, 1,679 stocks were untraded, and seven were suspended. 

Turnover reached 257.21 million units, valued at RM143.14 million. 

bootstrap slideshow

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI  ended the week on a higher note, buoyed by optimism surrounding Budget 2025. 

"Looking forward, we are neutral on Budget 2025. However, we expect the market might be slightly disappointed by the absence of infra-project implementation. 

"Nonetheless, the more optimistic gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast of between 4.5 per cent to 5.5 per cent for 2025 may inject some optimism," he told Bernama. 

Thus, Thong expects the index to hover within the 1,645 to 1,655 range today.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank slipped two sen to RM10.64, and IHH Healthcare dropped three sen to RM7.16. Public Bank, however, rose one sen to RM4.58, CIMB Group added four sen to RM8.19, while Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM14.68. 

As for the active counters, Globetronics Technology climbed 3.5 sen to 65 sen, Cape EMS and Alpha IVF were slightly higher at half-a-sen each to 33.5 sen and 36.5 sen, respectively, Datasonic Group bagged one sen to 44.5 sen, but Dagang NeXchange declined one sen to 35 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 27.82 points to 12,339.71,  the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 45.70 points to 12,231.25, the FBMT 100 Index gave up 24.18 points to 12,043.39, and the FBM 70 Index lost 90.08 points to 17,625.55. 

However, the FBM ACE Index gained 2.46 points at 5,123.26.

Sector-wise, the Energy Index fell 1.69 points to 852.84, the Plantation Index shaved 20.27 points to 7,253.26, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.35 points to 176.07, but the Financial Services Index advanced 19.03 points to 19,487.59.

-- BERNAMA