Bursa Malaysia Opens Lower On Cautious Tone

KUALA LUMPUR, June 22 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Monday on a cautious tone after a flat performance last Friday, amid Wall Street and Hong Kong market closures due to public holidays. 

At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 2.75 points to 1,709.28 from Friday's close of 1,712.03, after opening 1.56 points easier at 1,710.47.

Market breadth was negative, with decliners outpacing gainers 206 to 189.

A total of 343 counters were unchanged, while 1,980 were untraded and 14 suspended.

Turnover amounted to 228.65 million shares worth RM118.83 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng told Bernama that despite the market closure, the delay in a US-Iran accord and Israel's latest strikes on Lebanon have heightened uncertainty surrounding peace talks.

As a result, Brent crude rose above the US$80 per barrel level.

On the domestic front, he said the FBM KLCI's lower close at the 1,700 level on Friday indicated that bargain hunters remained active, with buying interest focused predominantly on bluechips.

Among heavyweights, PPB Group was down by 44 sen to RM9.68, IOI Corporation fell six sen to RM4.27, Petronas Dagangan eased 18 sen to RM18.56, Maxis slid three sen to RM3.39, and Maybank was eight sen lower at RM11.10. 

Of the most active stocks, Dagang Nexchange added half-a-sen to 47 sen, AirAsia X was five sen weaker at RM1.28, Widad Group and Tanco were flat each at two sen and 14 sen, respectively, and Capital A declined 1.5 sen to 42.5 sen. 

Among top gainers, F&N rose 30 sen to RM28.38, Concrete Engineering Products (Cepco) gained 26 sen to RM3.97, Skyechip increased 11 sen to RM3.20, Petronas Chemicals Group ticked up nine sen to RM,4.58, and Hong Leong Bank was eight sen firmer at RM22.24.

The top losers were led by PPB Group, followed by Malaysian Pacific Industries, which erased 32 sen to RM49.58, Nestle was down by 24 sen to RM95.98, Petronas Dagangan eased 18 sen to RM18.56, and KLCC Prop & REITS-Stapled Sec (KLCC) was 14 sen easier at RM9.38. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 22.29 points to 12,658.76, while the FBM Top 100 Index weakened 23.35 points to 12,496.27 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 19.67 points to 12,538.99.

The FBM Mid 70 Index decreased 47.67 points to 18,114.91, while the FBM ACE Index shed 6.46 points to 4,786.06.

By sector, the Financial Services Index fell 52.75 points to 20,151.83, and the Plantation Index trimmed 8.05 points to 8,865.17, but the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 0.09 of a point to 190.66, and the Energy Index added 1.67 points to 767.94.

-- BERNAMA

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