Bursa Malaysia Lower At Opening As Investors Cautious On Global Trade Tensions

By Harizah Hanim Mohamed

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened lower in the early session on the first trading day of February as investors focused on heightened global trade tensions and tit-for-tat measures following the US tariffs.

At 9.07 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 5.26 points to 1,551.66 compared to Friday’s close of 1,556.92.  

Turnover stood at 191.58 million shares worth RM87.55 million.

At the opening bell, the benchmark index lost 9.36 points at 1,547.56.

Meanwhile, market breadth was negative, with 254 gainers against 105 decliners, while 255 counters were unchanged, 1,680 untraded and 14 suspended.

Hong Leong Investment Bank said investors are closely watching the potential retaliatory measures following the US tariffs as well as China’s economic challenges, lingering headwinds from artificiaI intelligence and Distributed Control Systems (DCs), persistent foreign funds outflow and the upcoming February reporting season.

“Amid the external headwinds and negative FBM KLCI technical readings, the index is likely to continue its consolidation mode, with the support level to be between 1,529 and 1,545, while the resistance level stands at 1.566, 1,589 and 1,600,” it said in a research note today.

Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd head of research Kenny Yee said the FBM KLCI managed to close on a positive note last Friday after a weak performance in the preceding days, with no signs of a post-Chinese New Year rally.

“However, it is worthwhile to note that the local bourse seems ripe for some stock accumulation at this  juncture. We believe some foreign funds would shift to better value propositions, thus may re-look at Asia amid the heightening volatility on Wall Street,” Yee said.

He added that precious commodity gold has reacted with all-time high at almost US$2,800 per troy ounce.

“Therefore, we anticipate the index to trend within the 1,555-1,565 range today,” he told Bernama.

Among key heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank lost two sen each at RM10.32 and RM4.29, Tenaga removed eight sen to RM13.52, IHH was flat at RM7.16 while CIMB added three sen to RM8.05.

For active counters, Compugates advanced half-a-sen to 1.5 sen, MAG was 1.5 sen better at 21.5 sen, EA was flat at one sen, Carlo Rino was down one sen to 21.5 sen and Nationgate lost four sen to RM1.75.

On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index declined 33.01 points to 11,850.70, the FBMT 100 Index lost 30.49 points to 11,545.41, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 39.75 points to 11,697.39.

The FBM ACE Index eased 2.41 points to 5,192.66 and the FBM 70 Index slipped 13.92 points to 17,573.10.

By sector, the Financial Services Index dipped 31.67 points to 18,822.69, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.55 of-a-point to 164.82, the Plantation Index lost 20.17 points to 7,325.43 while the Energy Index declined 4.79 points to 818.53.

-- BERNAMA