KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 ― Bursa Malaysia reopened after the Chinese New Year holiday today to trade lower in the early session and in tracking the volatility on regional markets, dealers said.

At 9.16am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 2.8 points lower at 1,659.66, from Friday's closing of 1,662.25.

The key index opened 8.47 points higher at 1,670.93.     

A dealer said Asian shares tumbled amid fears of a global recession and on continued concerns over China's economic growth, falling oil prices and speculation that the US Federal Reserve could change course on interest rate increases.

On the scoreboards, the FBM Emas Index dropped 22.22 points to 11,504.34, the FBMT100 Index decreased 18.82 points to 11,214.98, the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 1.19 points to 12,345.43, the FBM 70 slid 21.20 points to 12,723.73 and the FBM Ace fell 13.47 points to 5,882.20.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index fell 69.16 points for 13,828.52, the plantation Index slid 1.87 points to 7,818.02, while the Industrial Index climbed 40.10 points to 3,293.69.

Losers outpaced gainers 206 to 78, while 126 counters were unchanged, 1,340 untraded and 15 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 116 million shares worth RM39.55 million.      

Of the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank slipped eight sen each to RM8.46 and RM18.46 respectively, Petronas Chemicals fell 13 sen to RM6.85, IHH declined two sen to RM6.59, while TNB gained six sen to RM13.22.

Among actives, Tiger Synergy eased one sen to 6.5 sen, Borneo oil warrant fell half-a-sen to 7.5 sen, while Focus Dynamic warrant and Vivicom gained half-a-sen each to 1.5 sen and 28 sen respectively. ― Bernama