Bursa Malaysia Opens Lower, Tracking Wall Street Weakness
By Abdul Hamid A Rahman
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Friday, tracking Wall Street’s downbeat session overnight.
At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 5.28 points to 1,608.92 from Thursday’s close of 1,614.20, after opening 4.31 points lower at 1,609.89.
Market breadth was slightly negative, with 197 losers outpacing 112 gainers. Meanwhile, 263 counters were unchanged, 2,097 untraded, and 60 suspended. Turnover stood at 147.02 million shares worth RM63.60 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, attributed the weakness to disappointing corporate earnings in the United States (US).
“The Dow slipped 0.23 per cent to 47,522.12, the S&P 500 declined nearly one per cent to 6,822.34, while the Nasdaq fell 1.57 per cent to 23,581.14,” he told Bernama.
He added that sentiment was supported by the recent US-China trade deal and expectations of a more accommodative US Federal Reserve.
“We anticipate buying interest on attractive valuations and stronger turnover, with the benchmark index likely to hover between 1,610 and 1,620 today,” Thong said.
Among heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank eased one sen each to RM9.88 and RM4.21, while CIMB Group rose four sen to RM7.35. Tenaga Nasional declined four sen to RM13.28, and IHH Healthcare added three sen to RM8.23.
On the most active list, Perak Transit and Revenue Group dipped half-a-sen to 36 sen and 7.5 sen, while TWL Holdings and NEXG Bina were unchanged at 2.5 sen and five sen. Omesti slid 1.5 sen to 6.5 sen.
Top gainers included Malaysian Pacific, which surged 22 sen to RM30.48; See Hup Consolidated rose six sen to 79 sen; and Sarawak Oil Palms and KSL Holdings advanced four sen each to RM3.56 and RM3.02. AirAsia X added three sen to RM1.84.
Top losers were MISC, which fell 43 sen to RM7.40; Chin Teck Plantations dropped 36 sen to RM11.38; Bursa Malaysia eased 14 sen to RM8.18; Kuala Lumpur Kepong fell 12 sen to RM20.76; and Petronas Dagangan dipped 10 sen to RM22.58.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 35.42 points to 12,015.88, the FBMT 100 Index declined 35.23 points to 11,757.23, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 48.82 points to 12,076.31. The FBM 70 Index shed 36.41 points to 17,040.73, while the FBM ACE Index slipped 8.04 points to 5,221.80.
By sector, the Financial Services Index eased 10.02 points to 18,183.23, the Plantation Index declined 27.72 points to 7,992.45, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.19 of-a-point to 171.31, and the Energy Index eased 0.44 of-a-point to 767.99.
-- BERNAMA
