Bursa Malaysia Opens Lower On Wall Street Cue

By Abdul Hamid A Rahman

KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened weaker this morning, influenced by the mixed performance on Wall Street overnight, according to an analyst.

At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was marginally lower by 2.86 points at 1,612.32 from Thursday's close of 1,615.18. The index opened 1.19 points lower at 1,613.99.

In the broader market, decliners led gainers 200 to 156, with 308 counters unchanged, 1,859 untraded and 52 suspended.

Turnover stood at 261.10 million units worth RM130.28 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street's close was mixed as traders tried to recover from Wednesday's sharp sell-off, even though the United States (US) gross domestic product (GDP) announcement beat expectations.

"The Nasdaq dropped 0.9 per cent, the S&P 500 fell 0.5 per cent, while the Dow Industrials rose 0.2 per cent. Investors were still affected by the disappointing earnings from US technology giants," he told Bernama.

According to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, real GDP increased at an annual rate of 2.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2024 (2Q 2024) versus 1.4 per cent in 1Q 2024.

As for the local bourse, Thong said the FBM KLCI continued to trend lower amid weak global sentiment.

"Nonetheless, the benchmark index remained well supported above the 1,610 level; hence we reckon the accumulation of stocks will persist on dips.

"We anticipate the benchmark index to range between 1,610 and 1,620 today," he added.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell 2.0 sen to RM10.12, Public Bank and CIMB Group each declined 1.0 sen to RM4.20 and RM7.18, respectively, while Tenaga Nasional dropped 4.0 sen to RM13.96.

Meanwhile, IHH Healthcare was flat at RM6.26.

Among the actives, Kucingko increased 35.5 sen to 65.5 sen, Sarawak Consolidated added 1.0 sen to 30 sen, and Alam Maritim gained half-a-sen to 4 sen. Widad Group and Aimflex were unchanged at 5.5 sen and 20 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dropped 15.26 points to 12,450.52, the FBMT 100 Index declined 13.27 points to 12,039.36, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 12.76 points to 12,726.94.

The FBM 70 Index gained 8.85 points to 18,487.20 and the FBM ACE Index increased 0.85 of-a-point to 5,811.71.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index decreased by 32.82 points to 17,950.44. Meanwhile, the Plantation Index added 2.20 points to 7,153.16, the Industrial Products and Services Index went up 0.18 of-a-point to 191.97, while the Energy Index rose 0.21 of-a-point to 958.50.

-- BERNAMA