Bursa Malaysia Opens Lower On Mild Profit-taking

By Rosemarie Khoo Mohd Sani

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 7 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Friday on mild profit-taking in selected heavyweights led by SD Guthrie and Tenaga Nasional, analysts said.

At 9.06 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 1.71 points to 1,583.46, from Thursday’s close of 1,585.17.  

The benchmark index opened 1.55 points lower at 1,583.62.

However, gainers led decliners 157 to 114 on the broader market, while 229 counters were unchanged, 1,817 untraded and 22 suspended.

Turnover stood at 121.16 million units worth RM77.48 million. 

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street ended on a mixed note as traders weighed the latest batch of corporate earnings, which was also a mixed bag.

He said the current focus is centred on company specifics while largely ignoring the tariffs scenario.

Meanwhile, the US 10-year Treasury yield inched higher at 4.436 per cent.

Thong said that despite the financial whirlwind amid the US-China trade tension, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index navigated uncertainties nicely so far by maintaining above the 20,000 level and closing in on the 21,000 mark. 

At the same time, he said investors seemed positive that more policy measures are expected from Beijing soon.

On the home front, the FBM KLCI conducted a late mini rally to fly past the 1,580 level on Thursday, possibly due to the return of foreign funds.

“If this persists, we are confident that the index will re-test the 1,600 thresholds anytime soon. As such, we anticipate the index to hover within the 1,580-1,590 points range today,” Thong told Bernama. 

On the other hand, ActivTrades trader Anderson Alves said Asian equities might trade sideways on Friday, with risk appetite appearing subdued.

He said traders are now waiting and positioning for US payroll data, where slightly dovish expectations are priced into the rates markets, with the data itself carrying a dovish bias.

“Markets could face some volatility around the data if it beats expectations, but it won’t change the path of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy as more data will be needed,” said Alves. 

Back home, heavyweights SD Guthrie and Tenaga shed 6.0 sen each to RM4.90 and RM13.66, respectively, while Press Metal Aluminium and Maxis fell 3.0 sen each to RM4.96 and RM3.51, respectively, and Public Bank trimmed 1.0 sen to RM4.44.

TWL led the list of the most active stocks, improving half-a-sen to 3.0 sen, Supermax increased 6.0 sen to RM1.26, Top Glove gained 2.0 sen to RM1.24, and MYEG added half-a-sen to 99 sen. However, Harvest Miracle Capital reduced 2.5 sen to 17 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index strengthened 1.52 points to 12,092.92, the FBMT 100 Index grew 0.06 of-a-point to 11,785.00, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 3.28 points lower at 11,937.91.

The FBM ACE Index depreciated 13.15 points to 5,251.36, and the FBM 70 Index advanced 50.23 points to 17,951.20.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gained 8.98 points to 19,158.72, but the Plantation Index fell 18.49 points to 7,449.85, while the Industrial Products and Services Index shaved 0.19 of-a-point to 166.26, and the Energy Index edged up by 0.48 of-a-point to 827.96.

-- BERNAMA