Bursa Malaysia Opens Higher But Retreats Thereafter
By Nurunnasihah Ahmad Rashid
KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened higher but retreated thereafter, tracking Wall Street's weaker performance last Friday amid heightened US-Iran tensions.
At 9.10 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) index fell 5.70 points to 1,662.04 from Friday’s close of 1,667.74. The index opened 1.04 points higher at 1,668.78.
Market breadth was negative, with decliners outpacing gainers 211 to 143, while 303 counters were unchanged, 2,086 untraded, and 133 were suspended.
Turnover amounted to 156.50 million shares worth RM75.07 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street ended lower last Friday, with technology stocks under pressure as investors locked in profits following the recent sharp sell-off in artificial intelligence-related counters.
He added that the latest US-Iran attacks have further heightened geopolitical tensions in West Asia, dampening overall market sentiment.
“Market undertone remains cautious in the absence of catalysts. While current levels present a solid opportunity to accumulate, we recommend investors proceed with care.
“Although laggards may be on the radar, we believe punters should stay on the buying list. For today, we expect the index to hover within the 1,665-1,675 range,” he told Bernama.
Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank shed two sen to RM10.78, Public Bank decreased five sen to RM4.78, Tenaga Nasional slipped 18 sen to RM14.16, and IHH dropped a sen to RM8.53, while CIMB was flat at RM7.41.
Among the active counters, ACE Market debutant RT Pastry eased one sen to 17 sen, Nova MSC, Zetrix AI and Bina Puri were half-a-sen lower at 6.5 sen, 76.5 sen and 29 sen, respectively. GIIB was flat at 48 sen.
On the gainers’ list, Fraser & Neave ticked up 40 sen to RM28.10, United Plantations bagged 28 sen to RM32.88, Petronas Chemicals and Nestle were 14 sen higher at RM4.16 and RM95.98, respectively. Sunway Construction increased 11 sen to RM7.43.
Among the top losers, Malaysian Pacific Industries shed 42 sen to RM46.58, Hong Leong Financial gave up 22 sen to RM18.28, Petronas Dagangan trimmed 18 sen to RM18.42, KL Kepong slid 14 sen to RM21.16, and Ajinomoto decreased six sen to RM18.80.
On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index was 30 points lower at 12,335.02, the FBM Top 100 Index slipped 30.70 points to 12,170.89, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index reduced 19.13 points to 12,222.17.
The FBM Mid 70 Index went up 2.16 points to 17,728.35, and the FBM ACE Index shed 23.95 points to 4,721.35.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index reduced 72 points to 19,591.12, the Energy Index inched up 0.59 of a point to 746.49, the Plantation Index weakened 12.09 points to 8,870.89, and the Industrial Products and Services Index added 1.10 points to 180.69.
-- BERNAMA