Bursa Malaysia Opens Easier Amid Cautious Sentiment

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia trended lower in early trade today, weighed down by a lack of fresh catalysts and cautious sentiment as traders assess the prevailing trade tensions and inflationary headwinds.

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 3.10 points to 1,581.74 compared with Tuesday’s close of 1,584.84. The benchmark index opened 1.62 points lower at 1,583.22.

In the broader market, decliners led gainers 139 to 129, while 245 counters were unchanged, 1,812 untraded and 10 suspended.

Turnover stood at 135.05 million units worth RM68.94 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd head of research Kenny Yee Shen Pin said Wall Street closed slightly higher overnight, with all three major indexes getting a boost from late buying after a volatile trading session.

“Back home, the FBM KLCI ended slightly higher on Tuesday despite signs of foreign selling, and we believe local institutions may be accumulating selective stocks ahead of the fourth quarter of 2024 earnings season.

“For today, we expect the index to hover between the 1,580-1,590 range as the market undertone remains rather cautious,” he said in a note today.

Among the heavyweight counters, Maybank fell four sen to RM10.50, Public Bank lost two sen to RM4.48, and IHH Healthcare eased one sen to RM7.27, while CIMB and Tenaga Nasional were flat at RM8.40 and RM13.94, respectively.

Ingenieur Gudang and Harvest Miracle led the active counters, remaining flat at six sen and 14.5 sen, respectively. Meanwhile, MYEG and Hartalega gained three sen each to RM1.06 and RM2.64, respectively, and Sarawak Cable increased one sen to 12 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 2.97 points to 12,001.25, the FBMT 100 Index was 5.64 points lower at 11,710.70, but the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 5.74 points to 11,702.07.

The FBM 70 Index improved 59.69 points to 17,596.88, while the FBM ACE Index trimmed 9.64 points to 5,064.85.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index deducted 22.29 points to 19,351.79, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.04 of-a-point to 163.14, the Plantation Index lost 17.85 points to 7,412.23, and the Energy Index erased 0.94 of-a-point to 790.84.

-- BERNAMA