KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 26 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia opened lower this morning on the absence of participation by traders who were away for the Christmas and New Year holidays, dealers said.

At 9.15, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,832.77, down 2.72 points, after opening 6.95 points lower at 1,828.54.

However, HwangDBS Vickers Research was optimistic that the positive external backdrop could lift sentiment on Bursa Malaysia.

It said key US bellwethers on Wall Street extended their record highs, up by between 0.2 per cent and 0.4 per cent, on Christmas Eve.

“On the chart, FBM KLCI may climb towards the immediate resistance level of 1,840 ahead,” it said in a research note today.

On the scoreboard, the Finance Index added 6.719 points to 16,844.19 but the Industrial Index lost 8.56 points to 3,117.53 and the Plantation Index dropped 22.01 points to 8,695.48.

The FBM Emas Index fell 15.45 points to 12,643.8, the FBMT100 Index decreased 14.42 points to 12,382.41, the FBM Ace eased 1.71 points to 5,593.51 and the FBM 70 slipped 0.47 of a point to 14,042.99.

Gainers led losers 112 to 89 while 125 counters were unchanged, 1,233 untraded, and 16 others were suspended.

Turnover stood at 64.15 million shares worth RM35.88 million.

Among actives, Tiger Synergy lost one sen to 14.5 sen and Hibiscus dropped 30 sen to RM1.54.

Daya Materials earned half-a-sen to 38.5 sen while Sumatec and MAS was unchanged at 27.5 sen and 30.5 sen, respectively.

Of heavyweights, Sime Darby added one sen to RM9.41, Tenaga lost two sen to RM11.06, Axiata fell erased three sen to RM6.72 while Maybank and CIMB were flat at RM9.95 and RM7.61, respectively. — Bernama