BURSA MALAYSIA OPENS EASIER AHEAD OF US INFLATION DATA 

By Karina Imran

KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Friday amid a subdued Wall Street performance as traders remain sidelined ahead of fresh United States (US) inflation data to be issued later today, said an analyst. 

At 9.15 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 1.70 points to 1,583.24 from Thursday's close of 1,584.94.

The benchmark index had opened 1.41 points weaker at 1,583.53.

On the broader market, decliners led gainers 220 to 182, with 332 counters unchanged, 1,679 untraded and 45 suspended.

Turnover stood at 287.08 million units worth RM164.32 million.

It was reported that Wall Street ended around the unchanged mark yesterday which saw the the Dow Jones Industrial Average close 0.09 per cent or 36 points higher, while the Nasdaq added 0.3 per cent or 53 points.

Meanwhile, the US 10-year yield dipped slightly to 4.286 per cent on higher jobless claims indicating a softening US job market. 

Rakuten Trade Research head of research Kenny Yee believes trading patterns on the local bourse will be subdued today ahead of the release of the US personal consumption expenditure data.

"Therefore, we expect the benchmark index to trend between the 1,580 and 1,590 range today," he told Bernama. 

Yee said the local bourse is trading at a reasonable 15 times (x) market price-to-earnings ratio (PER) compared to the historical 16.5x which may result in some bargain-hunting activities in due course.

Bursa heavyweights Maybank inched down two sen to RM9.94, Tenaga Nasional dropped 28 sen to RM13.66 and CIMB slipped one sen to RM6.76. 

Meanwhile, Public Bank added one sen to RM4.01 and IHH Healthcare gained two sen to RM6.30. 

As for the most active counters, Jaks Resources, Sapura Energy and OCR Group edged up half-a-sen to 16.5 sen, four sen and 11.5 sen, respectively. 

Ingenieur Gudang slid half-a-sen to 5.5 sen and YNH Property climbed three sen to 52.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shaved off 7.46 points to 12,153.38, the FBMT 100 Index fell 7.49 points to 11,740.50, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 8.22 points to 12,488.02, and the FBM ACE Index slipped by 1.44 points to 5,687.54

However, the FBM 70 Index increased by 7.69 points to 17,727.84.

Sector-wise, the Energy Index garnered 2.02 points to 951.64, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.36 of-a-point to 195.61 and the Plantation Index bagged 7.12 points to 6,957.94, but the Financial Services Index sank 14.61 points to 17,405.71.

-- BERNAMA