Bursa Malaysia Lower In Early Trade, Tracking Weak Wall Street Peformance

By Abdul Hamid A Rahman

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia turned lower in early trade on Friday, mirroring the weak performance of Wall Street overnight.

Today's market will also be influenced by the US Federal Reserve chairman’s speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium later tonight, with traders mostly staying on the sidelines ahead of the speech, said an analyst.

At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 3.32 points to 1,638.34, compared with the previous close of 1,641.66. The index opened 1.67 points higher at 1,643.33.

In the broader market, decliners outnumbered gainers by 311 to 118, with 246 counters remaining unchanged, 1,833 untraded, and eight suspended.

Turnover reached 212.14 million units, valued at RM133.99 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the market sentiment on Wall St was affected by the downward revision of US job market figures.

“The job figure was lowered by 818,000, indicating that the US job market may not be as robust.

“As a result, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 178 points, the Nasdaq declined by 300 points and the US 10-year yield edged higher to 3.858 per cent,” he added.

Back home, Thong noted that the FBM KLCI closed on a strong note yesterday as foreign fund buying continued.

“The local bourse has had a decent run this week despite some intermittent profit-taking activities.

“Nonetheless, the average trading volume remains low as retail participation is absent, with many opting for the numerous initial public offerings (IPOs) of late, which has drawn liquidity from the market,” he added.

For today, he expects the index to trend within the 1,640-1,650 range.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank added 6.0 sen to RM10.50, IHH Healthcare gained 3.0 sen to RM6.35 while Public Bank fell 3.0 sen to RM4.56. CIMB Group dropped 9.0 sen to RM7.80 and Tenaga Nasional slipped 8.0 sen to RM13.78.

Among the actives, ACE Market debutant EPB Group rose 6.5 sen to 62.5 sen, Elridge Energy climbed 1.0 sen to 41.0 sen and Cape EMS edged up half-a-sen to 40.5 sen. Genetec Technology fell 9.0 sen to RM1.33 and MSM Malaysia depreciated by 10.0 sen to RM1.38.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lost 29.48 points to 12,396.76, the FBMT 100 Index fell 30.53 points to 12,061.78 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was down 14.50 points to 12,360.93.

The FBM 70 Index dropped 67.81 points to 17,894.31 and the FBM ACE Index slid 36.70 points to 5,237.44.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index rose 8.27 points to 7,207.52 and the Energy Index gained 5.30 points to 925.95. The Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.23 of-a-point to 183.15 and the Financial Services Index declined 37.22 points to 19,070.10. 

-- BERNAMA