KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 — Bursa Malaysia opened in the red across the board on Monday on selling pressure after the global benchmark, Brent crude oil plunged 20.63 per cent to US$35.93 per barrel following the collapse of an oil supply agreement between oil cartel, Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and Russia.

Petronas-linked stocks, PetChem and PetGas shed 61 sen and 44 sen each to RM5.04 and RM15.70 respectively.

At 9.02am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gave up 33.84 points or 2.28 per cent to 1,449.26 from 1,483.10 at Friday close.

At the opening bell, the FBM KLCI opened 23.29 points weaker at 1,459.81.

On the broader market, losers trounced gainers 427 to 41, with 105 counters unchanged, 1,425 untraded and 17 others suspended. 

Turnover amounted to 389.50 million shares worth RM82.94 million.  

In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the market find it difficult to sustain a meaningful recovery as gains are met by the continuing sell down across the globe, a trend that has established since the COVID-19 outbreak.

"Adding on to the downside was OPEC and its’ allies failure to strike a deal to curb production, implying a fresh wave of supply may flood the market in April — leading to the slump in crude oil prices,” it said in a note.

The research house believed the key index’s weakness would return over the foreseeable future and said the market would remain downbeat with a base around the 1,495- 1,510 level under the prevailing environment.

Meanwhile, the Perikatan Nasional government is expected to announce members of its cabinet this evening, which investors hope would shed some light on its policies and directions.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell 11 sen to RM8.39, Tenaga lost 14 sen to RM12.46, Public Bank dropped 34 sen to RM17.32 and IHH reduced 10 sen to RM5.65.

Of the actives, Sapura Energy slipped six sen to 10 sen, Daya Materials was flat at five sen while Vortex rose half-a-sen to 7.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 258.84 points to 10,186.13, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gave up 321.48 points to 10,798.87 and the FBM 70 decreased 408.30 points to 12,309.28.

The FBMT 100 Index depreciated 256.36 points to 10,017.87 while the FBM Ace erased 100.75 points to 5,144.42.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 5.95 points to 129.28, the Financial Services Index dropped 205.39 points to 14,131.16 and the Plantation Index declined 109.99 points to 6,623.05. — Bernama