Bursa Malaysia Opens Lower Amid Cautious Sentiments

By Kisho Kumari Sucedaram

 KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened lower today, tracking the broadly lower Wall Street performance as sentiments turned cautious amid rising United States (US) Treasury yields and crude oil prices, an analyst said. 

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 4.90 points to 1,630.39 versus Monday’s close of 1,635.29.

The benchmark index opened 3.66 points weaker at 1,631.63.

Market breadth was negative with decliners leading gainers 175 to 109, while 260 counters remained unchanged, 1,879 untraded, and six suspended.

Turnover stood at 190.08 million units valued at RM71.61 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the US Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) declined by almost 400 points while the Nasdaq lost 214 points as the US Treasury 10-year yield climbed to 4.02 per cent. 

"Back home, we noticed the FBM KLCI index is still consolidating within the 1,630-1,680 range. It needs to break the 1,680 level decisively before the upward trajectory resumes towards the 1,700 mark,” he told Bernama. 

Despite the current lack of catalysts, he hopes that the recent strong performance of the crude palm oil (CPO) price may attract some interest in the plantation counters.

Hence, he expects the index to hover within the 1,635-1,645 range today.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and IHH Healthcare were unchanged at RM10.50 and RM7.22, respectively, Public Bank fell two sen to RM4.54, CIMB slipped four sen to RM7.92 and Tenaga Nasional slid six sen to RM13.92.

As for the active counters, ACE Market debutant KHPT Holdings added 5.5 sen to 25.5 sen, Alpha IVF and Steel Hawk rose half-a-sen to 35.5 sen and 29 sen, respectively, while Velocity Capital was flat at seven sen and Bahvest Resources lost half-a-sen to 77.5 sen. 

Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia announced that the Intraday Short Selling (IDSS) for Pertama Digital Bhd’s shares has been suspended for the rest of the day after its last done price dropped more than 15 per cent or 15 sen from the reference price.

“The short selling for Pertama Digital under IDSS will only be activated the following trading day, Wednesday, Oct 9, 2024, at 08:30 am,” it added.

 On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased by 32.74 points to 12,224.04, the FBM Emas Shariah Index shed 33.46 points to 12,140.23, the FBMT 100 Index slid 34.13 points to 11,915.33, the FBM 70 Index edged down 43.51 points to 17,351.51 and the FBM ACE Index eased 0.45 of-a-point to 5,129.38.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index shaved 29.67 points to 19,161.11, the Plantation Index trimmed 2.63 points to 7,209.59 and the Industrial Products and Services Index gave up 0.98 of-a-point to 176.71, while the Energy Index advanced 8.65 points to 907.70.

-- BERNAMA