Bursa Malaysia Opens Lower On Wall Street's Decline

By Rosemarie Khoo Mohd Sani

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 19 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened lower today, taking a cue from Wall Street’s overnight declines, said an analyst. 

At 9.12 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 2.11 points to 1,597.47 from Wednesday’s close of 1,599.58. 

The index opened 4.40 points lower at 1,595.18.

The market breadth was negative as decliners beat gainers 501 to 106, while 258 counters were unchanged, 1,062 untraded and 49 suspended.

Turnover stood at 397.99 million units worth RM275.93 million. 

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street slumped as traders unloaded their positions on heightening concerns about interest rates, which may stay elevated indefinitely.

This came after the United States (US) Federal Reserve (Fed) indicated that there would be only two interest rate cuts in 2025 after reducing the overnight rate by 25 basis points (bps).

Meanwhile, the US 10-year yield closed higher at 4.52 per cent.

Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index closed higher on optimism about China’s latest proposal to guide state-owned companies in improving and unlocking their values while halving service fees for dividend payouts.

Back home, the FBM KLCI ended marginally higher yesterday to just below the 1,600 mark amid hints of bargain-hunting activities supporting the local bourse.

“Due to the declines on Wall Street, we expect some knee-jerk reaction from the regional markets but expect foreign funds to seek a safer haven, which should re-divert funds back to Asia where valuations are more alluring.

“We expect the index to hover within the 1,590-1,610 range today,” Thong told Bernama. 

Among heavyweight counters, CelcomDigi fell 4.0 sen to RM3.56, Nestle lost RM1.96 to RM97.04, RHB Bank shed 8.0 sen to RM6.40, PPB Group was 24 sen lower at RM11.88, and Press Metal Aluminium eased 4.0 sen to RM4.79.

Among the most active stocks, ACE Market debutant Winstar Capital rose 19.5 sen to 54.5 sen, YTL Power International increased 25 sen to RM3.91, YTL Corporation gained 16 sen to RM2.30, Supermax was flat at RM1.22, and MRCB was down by 2.0 sen to 49.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 72.61 points to 12,249.88, the FBM Emas Index slid 33.17 points to 12,247.62, and the FBMT 100 Index trimmed 27.99 points to 11,937.43.

The FBM 70 Index weakened by 87.74 points to 18,361.89, and the FBM ACE Index decreased by 32.33 points to 5,214.11.

By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index shaved 1.56 points to 170.93, the Energy Index dropped 6.63 points to 808.68, the Plantation Index erased 50.62 points to 7,582.14, and the Financial Services Index shed 44.21 points to 18,851.97.

-- BERNAMA