KUALA LUMPUR, April 14 — Bursa Malaysia opened lower today on lack of fresh leads, dealers said.

At 9.21 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,735.36, down 2.82 points from yesterday’s close of 1,738.18.

The key index opened 1.53 points lower at 1,736.65.

A dealer said the absence of strong leads from local institutional players and cautious regional sentiment should see the local market extend correction, before buyers return to cushion downside.

"The immediate support for the index will remain at 1,737 30-day moving average level, while immediate overhead resistance stands at 1,758,” he said.  

On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index decreased 29.069 points to 12,354.15, FBM Emas Shariah Index shed 23.8 points to 12,828.75 and the FBMT100 Index fell 27.3 points to 11,990.91.

The FBM 70 plunged 62.5 points to 14,594.8 and the FBM Ace went down 28.15 points to 6,078.55.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Index inched up 0.64 of a point to 3,253.3 and the Plantation Index edged up 2.77 points to 7,950.93.

The Finance Index was 25.659 points lower at 15,591.4.

The market breadth was negative as losers led gainers 354 to 95 with 251 counters unchanged, 1,042 untraded while 20 others were suspended.

Turnover stood at 442.38 million shares worth RM117.07 million.

Among heavyweights, Maybank and Sime Darby eased one sen each to RM8.95 and RM9.27 respectively, TNB and Public Bank lost four sen each to RM13.70 and RM19.90 respectively and Petronas Chemicals slipped three sen to RM7.72.

Of the actives, Lion Diversified added 1.5 sen to 7.5 sen while Anzo eased two sen to 58 sen.

Vizione, Tiger Synergy and Compugates were flat at 13 sen, 5.5 sen and 3.5 sen respectively. — Bernama