Bursa Malaysia Lower At Midday, Tracking Weaker Regional Market

By Zarul Effendi Razali

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session lower today, mirroring the weaker performance in the regional markets as sentiments remained cautious due to the Middle East tensions, said an analyst.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined by 9.23 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 1,632.32, from Thursday’s close of 1,641.55. 

The benchmark index, which opened 3.06 points lower at 1,638.49, moved between 1,629.94 and 1,639.29 throughout the session.

On the broader market, decliners outnumbered gainers 582 to 302, with 459 counters unchanged, 1,065 untraded and 16 suspended. 

Turnover amounted to 1.82 billion units valued at RM1.12 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the overnight Wall Street closed lower due to concerns over the escalating tension in the Middle East and September’s payroll report later tonight.

“The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 185 points while the Nasdaq dipped marginally by 7.0 points as the United States Treasury 10-year yield inched higher to 3.84 per cent. 

“Nonetheless, we believe the index remains stuck in a consolidation phase, hence we expect it to hover within the 1,640-1,650 range today.

“Meanwhile, crude palm oil trended higher at around RM4,200 per tonne due to higher crude oil prices and a weaker ringgit, which is currently at RM4.23 against the USD,” he told Bernama today.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Tenaga Nasional went down 4.0 sen each to RM10.50 and 14.24, respectively, Public Bank fell 2.0 sen to RM4.55, CIMB Group slipped 5.0 sen to RM7.94 and IHH Healthcare was 7.0 sen lower at RM7.17.

Of the active counters, OCR Group eased 1.0 sen to 3.5 sen and Capital A trimmed 5.0 sen to 86 sen, while Bumi Armada gained 1.5 sen to 49.5 sen and Alam Maritim advanced 1.0 sen to 3.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 52.61 points to 12,217.16, the FBMT 100 Index trimmed 52.16 points to 11,911.13, and the FBM 70 Index erased 19.14 points to 17,277.09.  

The FBM ACE Index lost 19.45 points to 5,106.30, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index went down 67.43 points to 12,113.97.  

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index slid 21.88 points to 7,159.69, the Financial Services Index reduced 63.36 points to 19,197.69 and the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 1.0 points to 175.82, while the Energy Index improved 28.20 points to 886.01.

-- BERNAMA