Bursa Malaysia Opens Easier On Lack Of Market-Moving News

By Nurunnasihah Ahmad Rashid

KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia traded easier during early morning trade, dampened by a lack of market-moving news as traders awaited more clarity from the Trump administration on tariffs, analysts said.

At 9.15 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 1.59 points to 1,532.71 from Monday’s close of 1,534.30.

The benchmark index opened 0.94 of a point slightly higher at 1,535.24.

In the broader market, gainers led decliners 171 to 146, with 257 counters unchanged, 1,821 untraded and 17 suspended.

Turnover stood at 158.99 million units worth RM85.26 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd in a note today said the market may face further weakness amid continued foreign fund outflows.

“Besides, given rising geopolitical tension, and amid uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration’s stance on tariff, we expect the market to adopt a defensive stance, and the momentum in real estate investment trusts may persist,” it said.

It noted that Wall Street was closed on Monday in conjunction with Memorial Day, but the US equity futures advanced as investors reacted positively to President Trump’s tariff deadline extension on the European Union.

Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said traders were also concerned that a prolonged price war amongst the electric vehicles players to clear inventory will see extended margin compression.

Back home, the FBM KLCI closed marginally lower on Monday as foreign selling is suspected to remain prevalent.

“These short term trades by foreign funds would certainly lengthen the consolidation of the benchmark index. For today, we expect the index to trend between the 1,535-1545 range,” he told Bernama.

Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank fell four sen to RM9.88, while Public Bank dropped three sen to RM4.38, Tenaga and IHH Healthcare slid two sen each to RM13.98 and RM6.89 respectively, and CIMB shed one sen to RM6.95.

Among active stocks, NexG bagged one sen to 37.5 sen, MYEG gained 1.5 sen to 91 sen, OCR Group and Velesto were flat at RM3.5 sen and 17 sen respectively, while Armada eased one sen to 47.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lost 5.55 points to 11,450.14, the FBMT 100 Index fell 6.59 points to 11,212.12, and the FBM ACE Index was down 8.20 points to 4,589.87.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 0.14 of a point to 11,390.13, and the FBM 70 Index added 10.58 points to 16,313.94. 

Across the sectors, the Financial Services Index was 23.92 points higher at 18,147.16, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.02 of a point to 153.72, the Energy Index eased 1.34 points to 704.57, and the Plantation Index inched up 0.65 of a point to 7,336.02. 

-- BERNAMA