Bursa Malaysia Retreats To Open Lower
KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia retreated to open lower on Monday, following a negative overnight performance on Wall Street, with the July 9 reciprocal tariffs deadline approaching.
At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 13.66 points, or 0.88 per cent, to 1,536.53 from last Friday’s close of 1,550.19.
The benchmark index had earlier opened 5.45 points lower at 1,544.74.
Market breadth was negative, with 436 decliners thumping 63 gainers. A total of 214 counters were unchanged, 1,691 untraded and 19 suspended.
Turnover stood at 276.83 million shares worth RM189.99 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd expect the local bourse to start the week on a cautious note with Wall Street’s negative index futures and the July 9 tariff deadline looming, coupled with US plans to restrict AI chip shipments to Malaysia and Thailand.
“Nevertheless, the return of foreign funds and the FBM KLCI’s undervaluation may cushion the downside risk for now, supported by the data centre theme, domestic-driven plays and anticipation of major infrastructure projects rollout.
“We remain bullish on the construction and utility sectors, while real estate investment trust (REIT) counters continue to benefit should Bank Negara Malaysia lower the overnight policy rate (OPR) in the upcoming monetary policy committee meeting,” it said in a note.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell one sen to RM9.73, Public Bank and Tenaga Nasional decreased six sen each to RM4.32 and RM14, respectively. CIMB and IHH Healthcare dropped three sen to RM6.74 and RM6.72, respectively.
In active trade, NexG gained one sen to 41 sen, TWL and Borneo Oil both remained unchanged at 25 sen and half-a-sen, respectively, while Nationgate went down 16 sen to RM1.62 and SNS Network slipped three sen to 53.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 121.88 points to 11,495.84, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 119.59 points to 11,271.11, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 133.25 points to 11,271.11.
The FBM 70 Index sank 260.31 points to 16,526.73, while the FBM ACE Index reduced 53.96 points to 4,472.44.
By sector, the Financial Services Index was 74.28 points lower at 17,716.94, the Plantation Index narrowed 18.65 points to 7,430.09, and the Energy Index was down 8.78 points to 732.83. The Industrial Products and Services Index eased 2.50 points to 154.58.
-- BERNAMA