Bursa Malaysia Opens Marginally Lower On Friday
By Karina Imran
KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened marginally lower on Friday, as buying was interspersed with selling in selected heavyweight stocks due to uncertain geopolitical developments.
At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI fell by 1.88 points to 1,756.97 from Thursday’s close of 1,758.85.
The benchmark index opened 0.78 points firmer at 1,758.07.
Market breadth was negative, with losers outpacing gainers 244 to 152. A total of 318 counters were unchanged, 1,938 untraded and nine suspended.
Turnover stood at 238.91 million shares worth RM126.38 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed in negative territory overnight as all three of its major indices ended lower, as traders are looking for more developments between the United States and Iran.
The situation in West Asia remains uncertain, as depicted by Brent crude prices still elevated at US$100 per barrel, while the US 10-year yield inched higher to 4.386 per cent, he said.
“Nonetheless, we believe there are still legs for the local bourse to trend higher going forward. Hence, we anticipate the index to hover within the 1,755-1,765 range today,” he told Bernama.
Among heavyweights, Public Bank eased one sen to RM4.88, Tenaga Nasional slipped 12 sen to RM14.68, IHH Healthcare went down five sen to RM8.83, while CIMB Group added one sen to RM8.05, and Maybank was flat at RM11.26.
Among the most active stocks, ACE Market debutant Inspace Creation gained 2.5 sen to 27.5 sen, Top Glove grew 3.5 sen to 75.5 sen, Hartalega Holdings climbed seven sen to RM1.25, and Capital A shed 1.5 sen to 43 sen.
Among the top gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries soared 58 sen to RM41.80, Hong Leong Bank surged 24 sen to RM22.84, Petronas Chemicals bagged 12 sen to RM5.40, Allianz Malaysia gained eight sen to RM21.50, and Kossan Rubber Industries rose by seven sen to RM1.20.
Among the top losers, UMS Integrated trimmed 16 sen to RM7.21, Petronas Gas shaved 10 sen to RM18.02, Kelington Group declined nine sen to RM6.19, Pentamaster Corp shrank eight sen to RM4.30, and KESM Industries slid seven sen to RM4.60.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 11.83 points to 12,968.90, the FBMT 100 Index sank 11.50 points to 12,815.24, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 13.76 points to 12,849.37, and the FBM Mid 70 Index declined 6.91 points to 18,450.18, and the FBM ACE Index dropped 19.87 points to 4,645.87.
By sector, the Financial Services Index climbed 26.62 points to 20,500.05, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.58 points to 195.00, the Energy Index marginally higher 0.45 points to 812.31, and the Plantation Index advanced 4.68 points to 8,942.45.
-- BERNAMA
