FBM KLCI Opens Lower But Market Breadth Stays Positive

By Kisho Kumari Sucedaram

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia’s barometer index opened lower, in line with Wall Street’s weaker performance, as traders reacted negatively to September’s United States consumer price index figure, which came in higher than anticipated, said an analyst.

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 1.90 points to 1,639.04, compared to Thursday’s close of 1,640.94.

The benchmark index had opened 5.15 points lower at 1,635.79.

However, the market breadth was positive, with 146 gainers outpacing 120 decliners while 244 counters remained unchanged, 1,943 were untraded, and nine were suspended.

Turnover stood at 98.93 million units, valued at RM101.40 million.

The US consumer price index rose 2.4 per cent in September from 12 months earlier, slightly higher than the expected 2.3 per cent but lower than the 2.5 per cent in August. 

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the US Treasury 10-year yield has eased marginally to 4.06 per cent.

Regarding the local bourse, he said the FBM KLCI closed positively yesterday but off the day’s high amid bouts of late profit-taking activities.

“Nonetheless, news that Public Bank Bhd is acquiring LPI Capital Bhd at a 25 per cent discount to its pre-suspension price of RM13 via cash bodes well for the bank as the purchase is earnings accretive minus the dilutive impact to shareholders,” he told Bernama. 

Public Bank has proposed to acquire a 44.15 per cent stake in LPI Capital, comprising 175.9 million shares, for RM1.72 billion in cash or RM9.80 per share.

As such, Thong expects some buying in Public Bank, which accounts for more than eight per cent of the weighting on the FBM KLCI; hence, the index is expected to hover within the 1,640-1,650 range today.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and IHH Healthcare were unchanged at RM10.54 and RM7.26, respectively. Public Bank, which resumed trading today, fell 13 sen to RM4.44, while CIMB added two sen to RM8.10 and Tenaga Nasional gained four sen to RM14.42.

As for the active counters, Velocity Capital and MY EG shed half-a-sen to 4.5 sen and 93 sen, respectively. Pertama Digital rose half-a-sen to 31.5 sen, Solar District gained 1.5 sen to 51 sen, and Key Asic flat at 4.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slid by 6.83 points to 12,310.41, the FBMT 100 Index fell by 8.05 points to 12,006.55, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose by 25.06 points to 12,235.30, the FBM 70 Index picked up 10.01 points to 17,588.50 and the FBM ACE Index widened 7.20 points to 5,157.94.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slipped 78.33 points to 19,224.94, while the Plantation Index was 12.13 points higher to 7,211.68. The Industrial Products and Services Index climbed 0.53 of-a-point to 176.35, and the Energy Index firmed 5.74 points to 887.62.

-- BERNAMA