KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 — Bursa Malaysia opened lower in lackluster trading amid lingering external concerns, dealers said.

At 9.15am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 5.6 points easier at 1,730.59 after opening 5.07 points lower at 1,731.12.

A dealer said market sentiment was expected to remain weak pending more positive local catalysts to lift stocks from the current cautious mode.

Losers edged gainers 152 to 141 while 169 counters were unchanged, 1,348 untraded and 12 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 190.16 million shares worth RM189.06 million.

On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index decreased 27.78 points to 11,934.93, the FBMT100 Index was 29.24 points lower at 11,612.64 and the FBM Emas Syariah Index shed 29.87 points to 12,380.97.

The FBM Ace garnered 39.81 to 6,456.25 but the FBM 70 eased 1.47 points to 12,872.65.

On a sectoral basis, the Plantation Index was 50.94 points easier at 7,489.57, the Finance Index shed 26.37 points to 15,554.82 and the Industrial Index lost 14.06 points to 3,203.54.

Among actives, Genting erased one sen to RM4.32, Privasia added one sen to 31 sen, Jag and iDimension earned half-a-sen each to 14 sen and 11.5 sen, respectively, while APFT was flat at 22 sen.

For heavyweights, Maybank lost three sen to RM9.18, TNB eased two sen to RM12.30, Public Bank added four sen to RM19.10 and Sime Darby gained two sen to RM8.70 while Axiata was flat at RM6.38.