KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 — Bursa Malaysia opened lower today, dragged down by the weak overnight performance of US markets, dealers said.

At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 6.75 points lower at 1,855.70 from yesterday's close of 1,862.45.

The key index opened 3.92 points weaker at 1,858.53.

Market breadth was negative with 190 losers against 62 gainers, with 156 counters unchanged, 1,503 untraded and 65 others suspended.

Volume rose to 88.36 million units valued at RM29.29 million.

Public Investment Bank Bhd said US stocks closed sharply lower as a decline in the broader technology (tech) sector brought the major averages down.

The Nasdaq composite fell 2.9 per cent as shares of Apple and Amazon declined. The S&P 500 pulled back 1.7 per cent with tech sliding 3.5 per cent and posting its worst day since February 8.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 344.89 points lower and re-entered correction territory, with Microsoft as the worst-performing stock in the index.

Meanwhile, Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd said the technical outlook for Bursa Malaysia remained weak with indicators not showing strong signs of a potential bullish breakout.

"Expect the FBM KLCI to remain volatile over the short-term as global markets continue to observe the development of trade discussions.

"Investors should remain cautious amid the volatile market and wait for a decisive breakout from 1,880, which will then likely see it head towards 1,910. Conversely, any downside bias will see the index at 1,840 and 1,800,” it said in a note today.

Among heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank each fell four sen to RM10.48 and RM23.94, respectively, Tenaga and Petronas Chemicals were flat each at RM15.72 and RM8.28 respectively, and Tenaga eased three sen to RM7.09.

Of the active counters, Sapura Energy and Vivocom were each flat at 54.5 sen and 2.5 sen respectively, while Globaltech slid half-a-sen to 4.5 sen.

Among top losers, Nestle declined 70 sen to RM149.00, Hengyuan eased 13 sen to RM7.78 and Carlsberg was down 12 sen to RM18.80.

The FBM Emas Index fell 42.72 points to 13,007.40, the FBMT 100 Index declined 41.48 points to 12,795.14 and the FBM 70 slipped 33.07 points to 15,534.55.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 29.94  points to 13,183.55 and the FBM Ace gained 10.36 points to 6,344.69.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index was 70.18 points lower at 18,111.27 and the Plantation Index slid 33.46 points to 8,005.93 and the Industrial Index dropped 7.80 points to 3,220.14. — Bernama