By Kisho Kumari Sucedaram
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 8 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia kicked off the day on an easier note today as investors were cautious following the weak United States Treasury sales of US$42 billion, underscoring the fragile confidence in US economic conditions, a dealer said.
The sentiment resulted in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) erasing 234 points while the Nasdaq declined by 171 points and the US 10-year Treasury yield edged marginally higher at 3.952 per cent.
At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 10.96 points or 0.68 per cent to 1,580.91 from Wednesday’s close of 1,591.87.
The index opened 5.91 points lower at 1,585.96.
On the broader market, decliners outpaced gainers 516 to 67, with 183 counters unchanged, 1,677 untraded and nine suspended.
Turnover stood at 225.69 million units worth RM125.67 million.
Back home, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI index made a strong recovery in the previous session as the index may be looking to test breaking the 1,600 level.
“Though 1,600 is now deemed as the psychological resistance (level), we reckon this level must be broken as soon as possible to maintain the recent upward trajectory,” he told Bernama.
As such, Thong expects the index to possibly hover within the 1,590-1,600 range today.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank shed two sen to RM10.20 and RM4.22, respectively. Tenaga Nasional slid 10 sen to RM13.84, CIMB fell four sen to RM7.29, while IHH Healthcare remained unchanged at RM6.22.
Active counters saw mixed results, with Cape EMS 1.5 sen higher to 45 sen, Techna-X rising one sen to 11 sen. However, Ekovest slipped one sen to 40 sen, Velesto Energy eased half-a-sen to 20.5 sen, while Jaks Resources unchanged at 15 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index edged down 115.51 points to 11,986.19, the FBMT 100 Index dipped 108.71 points to 11,642.10, the FBM 70 Index declined by 265.02 points to 17,283.35, the FBM ACE Index declined 73.39 points to 5,144.08 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index inched down 135.94 points to 12,078.77.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index decreased by 88.95 points to 17,971.86, the Energy Index lost 13.89 points to 897.70, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 1.30 points to 176.64, while the Plantation Index reduced by 44.31 points to 7,005.20, and the Technology Index weakened 1.54 points to 67.48.
-- BERNAMA
