BURSA MALAYSIA OPENS LOWER IN LINE WITH WEAKER WALL STREET

KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia reversed from recent gains and opened lower on Monday, taking its cue from Wall Street's weaker overnight performance as inflation data remained elevated and sentiments were affected by political uncertainty following the United States presidential debate.

At 9.15 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 1.50 points to 1,588.59 from Friday's close of 1,590.09.

The benchmark index had opened 0.17 of a point firmer at 1,590.26.

On the broader market, decliners led gainers 253 to 192, with 335 counters unchanged, 1,594 untraded and five suspended.

Turnover stood at 371.69 million units worth RM160.19 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd noted that Wall Street closed lower despite reports suggesting consumer spending rose moderately in May.

“Despite the selling pressure on Wall Street, we believe buying support should continue locally. We see opportunities within the technology sector, where rising investments and demand for data centres, artificial intelligence and cloud services should support trading activities for now,” it said in a note.

Meanwhile, the brokerage said traders will be watching for the release of several key economic data points, including the US Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) and jobs data like non-farm employment and the unemployment rate.

Bursa heavyweights Tenaga Nasional dropped two sen to RM13.76 and IHH Healthcare slipped one sen to RM6.29, while Maybank inched up one sen to RM9.97.

Meanwhile, Public Bank and CIMB were flat at RM4.02 and RM6.80 respectively.

As for the most active counters, SNS Network and Nova were half-a-sen lower at 75 sen and 21 sen respectively, while Velesto was flat at 26.5 sen.

Ingenieur Gudang rose one sen to six sen and Hiap Teck added 1.5 sen to 44 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shaved off 12.53 points to 12,203.87, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 12.47 points to 11,785.58, the FBM Emas Shariah Index weakened by 19.97 points to 12,532.73,  the FBM 70 Index slipped by 23.82 points to 17,818.07.

However, the FBM ACE Index gained 4.02 points to 5,777.30.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index sank 3.25 points to 17,451.48 and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.50 of-a-point to 195.80. The Energy Index garnered 3.50 points to 958.92 and the Plantation Index bagged 2.04 points to 6,984.76.

-- BERNAMA