KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 — Bursa Malaysia opened lower in early trade for the second consecutive day today and ahead of another long weekend, dealers said.

At 9.05 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 4.34 points lower at 1,672.84, against yesterday's close of 1,677.18.

It opened 2.5 points lower at 1,674.68.

A dealer said there was weak buying support as traders took cue from the bearish performance of the Asian equities markets.

On the broader market, losers led gainers 127 to 57, while 129 counters were unchanged, 1,367 untraded and 23 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 48.31 million shares worth RM21.76 million.

The dealer said oil prices, which fell two per cent overnight, had also affected Asian equity markets.

Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.57 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.32 per cent and Singapore's Strait Times was 0.26 per cent lower.

Public Investment Bank Bhd in a note said crude oil prices had weakened on expectations that a supply glut may persist.

Among heavyweights, Astro was up five sen to RM2.93, IHH Healthcare and IOI Corp both improved one sen each to RM6.63 and RM4.49 respectively, while Hap Seng added two sen to RM7.64.

Of losers, Nestle shed four sen to RM79.60, UMW fell 17 sen to RM5.84, Pintaras was 11 sen easier at RM3.35 and Public Bank slid eight sen to RM19.72.

The FBM Emas Index fell 27.38 points to 11,767.25, the FBMT 100 Index declined 29.18 points to 11,472.11 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 25.66 points to 12,412.32.

The FBM 70 slid 32.62 points to 13,626.80, while the FBM Ace was 8.12 points lower at 5,179.53, as the Finance Index eased 35.80 points to 14,370.08, and the Plantation Index decreased 1.14 points to 7,860.11.

The Industrial Index fell 3.97 points to 3,124.75. — Bernama