KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 10 — Bursa Malaysia was mixed in early trade today in line with regional bourses as investors digested a slew of overseas development, dealers said.

At 9.02am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.84 of-a-point lower at 1,777.1 against yesterday’s close of 1,777.94.

The benchmark index opened one point easier at 1,776.94.

There were 100 gainers and 64 decliners with 122 counters unchanged, 1,546 untraded and 18 others were suspended.

A dealer said concern over geopolitical tension between the Unites States and North Korea, which sent the Wall Street lower last night, weighed on sentiment across the globe.

However, the better-than-expected US productivity data somehow helped cushion the impact, he said.

MaybankIB Research said the overnight sell-off in global equity markets might dampen investor’s confidence today.

"We expect the  local bourse to take a hit in the early going, with the FBMKLCI potentially trading between 1,770 and 1,780. Downside supports is seen at 1,748 and 1,729,” the research house said in a note today.

Of heavyweights, Maybank, Tenaga and Public Bank trimmed two sen each to RM9.80, RM14.20 and RM20.60 respectively, while both CIMB and Petronas Chemicals were flat at RM6.76 and RM7.01, respectively.

Sime Darby, however, added one sen to RM9.42.

Among active counters, Minetech inched up half-a-sen to 14.5 sen while Naim Indah, Vivovom and Frontken were all flat at six sen, 13.5 sen and 33 sen, respectively.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 3.45 points to 12,752.23, FBM 70 rose 11.87 points to 14,933.34 and FBM Ace increased 2.84 points to 6,504.28.

However, the FBM Emas Index eased 2.02 points to 12,620.51 while FBMT 100 Index shed 1.97 points to 12,276.93.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index fell 27.17 points to 16,809.94, the Plantation Index gained 2.65 points to 7,843.54 but the Industrial Index slipped 1.81 points to 3,249.62. — Bernama