Bursa Malaysia Opens Lower Amid Wall Street Mixed Performance

By Karina Imran

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia retreated from yesterday’s gains to open lower this morning amid Wall Street’s mixed performance overnight, said an analyst.  

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 4.41 points to 1,584.30 from Wednesday's close of 1,588.71.

The benchmark index opened 0.72 of-a-point easier at 1,587.99.

However, the broader market was positive with gainers leading decliners 177 to 133, with 225 counters unchanged, 1,853 untraded and 97 suspended. 

Turnover stood at 125.38 million shares worth RM98.96 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed mixed despite a bright opening, as sentiment remains clouded by talks of more tariffs on the European Union (EU).

Meanwhile, the less-than-optimistic view of the United States (US) economy saw the 10-year yield ease further to 4.256 per cent. 

"On the home front, the FBM KLCI jumped by 20 points recouping its loss the day before. We were surprised by the strong reversal of the local bourse, which was partly also attributed to the regional uptrend. 

"We suspect the solid emergence of buyers could also be due to positive expectations of domestic corporate results which are expected to be decent for 2024," he told Bernama.

Hence, Thong expects the index to trend between the 1,590-1,600 range today.

Bursa heavyweights Maybank was flat at RM10.70, CIMB eased two sen to RM8.26, Public Bank inched down five sen to RM4.50, Tenaga Nasional slipped six sen to RM13.52 and IHH Healthcare trimmed four sen to RM7.26.

As for the actives, Ingenieur Gudang, Sapura Energy and RGB International inched up half-a-sen to 4.5 sen, 3.5 sen and 41 sen, respectively. NationGate added seven sen to RM1.93 and My E.G. Services grew 1.5 sen to 96.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 6.89 points to 11,877.38 and the FBMT 100 Index sank 10.13 points to 11,628.92. 

Conversely, the FBM Emas Shariah Index garnered 7.45 points to 11,540.03, the FBM 70 Index increased 73.50 points to 17,076.84, and the FBM ACE Index gained 12.27 points to 4,811.16.

By sector, the Financial Services Index dropped 75.23 points to 19,402.32 and the Plantation Index was 8.11 points easier at 7,533.95. 

In contrast, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.92 of-a-point to 160.31 and the Energy Index improved 0.48 of-a-point to 763.10.

-- BERNAMA