Bursa Opens Slightly Lower, Tracking Wall Street's Performance Overnight
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened marginally lower this morning, taking its cue from Wall Street’s downbeat performance overnight.
At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 1.47 points to 1,625.96 from Monday’s close of 1,627.43, after opening 0.43 of-a-point easier at 1,627.0.
On the broader market, decliners outpaced decliners 213 to 87, while 219 counters were unchanged, 2,248 untraded, and 11 suspended.
Turnover stood at 103.41 million shares valued at RM63.90 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said foreign funds may be locking in some profits, reflecting their short-term vision.
“Nonetheless, we felt vindicated that most Southeast Asia markets have all performed positively, attributed to their attractive valuations, of which we have mentioned numerously. For today, we expect the index to trend in the 1,625-1,635 range,” it said in a research note today.
Among heavyweights, Maybank rose 2.0 sen to RM9.94, TNB increased 4.0 sen to RM13.32 and SD Guthrie added 3.0 sen to RM5.38, while Public Bank and Hong Leong Bank were flat at RM4.30 and RM21, respectively.
Meanwhile, CIMB fell 3.0 sen to RM7.58, IHH Healthcare declined 1.0 sen to RM8.19 and CelcomDigi trimmed 2.0 sen to RM3.59.
On the most active list, Systech and Genting Malaysia bagged 1.0 sen each to 19 sen and RM2.37, respectively, Tanco inched up half-a-sen to 97 sen and Nextgreen was flat at 78.5 sen.
Perak Transit and Pharmaniaga edged down half-a-sen each to 28 sen and 23 sen, respectively, and MMS Ventures gave up 7.0 sen to 52.5 sen.
Top gainers Petronas Dagangan jumped 16 sen to RM22.26, MNRB expanded 9.0 sen to RM2.11, Hong Leong Industries went up 8.0 sen to RM15.18 and Sarawak Oil Palms grew 7.0 sen to RM3.80.
As for the top losers, PPB Group depreciated 22 sen to RM11.38, Cyberjaya Education Group was 13 sen easier at 80 sen, Petronas Gas declined 12 sen to RM18.40 and Petronas Chemicals shaved 10 sen to RM3.31.
On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 15.84 points to 11,824.8, the FBM Emas Index tumbled 17.48 points to 12,055.61, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index dipped 24.4 points to 12,049.64.
The FBM ACE Index slumped 38.38 points to 4,976.89, while the FBM Mid 70 Index weakened 44.81 points to 16,891.81.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index improved 14.7 points to 8,132.84, the Financial Services Index was 1.74 points higher at 18,497.86, and the Energy Index grew 0.93 of-a-point to 761.93, while the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.46 of-a-point to 166.83.
-- BERNAMA
