KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 — Bursa Malaysia edged lower across the board this morning, weighed down by weak sentiment as the movement restrictions were extended to cover the whole country and ahead of the first quarter 2021 gross domestic product results later today.

At 9.14am, the benchmark index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 8.79 points to 1,575.13 from Monday’s close of 1,583.92.

The index opened 4.61 points weaker at 1,579.31.

On the broader market, losers hammered gainers 644 to 75, while 252 counters were unchanged, 1,197 untraded and 12 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 798.43 million worth RM328.08 million.

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced yesterday that the whole country would be placed under the movement control order (MCO) from May 12 until June 7 to curb the recent spike in Covid-19 infections.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, in a note, expects the expansion of the MCO 3.0 would weigh on market sentiment.

Should the key index set a further pullback, support is pegged between 1,555 and 1,565, while resistance is set between 1,600 and 1,620, it said.

Meanwhile, crude palm oil (CPO) future price contracted after registering a hefty rally recently.

"Following the uptrend movement of commodities prices, particularly CPO and oil prices, we believe energy and plantation counters may be put under traders’ radar over the near term.

"Also, some essential consumer stocks as well as lockdown beneficiaries such as the plastic packaging industry may bode well throughout this period of time,” it said.

Among heavyweights, Maybank and Tenaga eased three sen each to RM8.21 and RM9.87, respectively, Public Bank shed two sen to RM4.08, PetChem lost six sen to RM8.19, and IHH Healthcare slipped one sen to RM5.65.

Of the actives, Pegasus and Key Alliance were flat at two sen and 3.5 sen, respectively, while KTG and Tanco inched down half-a-sen each to 20 sen and 12.5 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 90.97 points weaker at 11,525.36, the FBMT 100 Index contracted 77.6 points to 11,200.44, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 101.01 points to 12,921.1, the FBM ACE fell 132.4 points to 8,005.44, and the FBM 70 erased 134.4 points to 15,004.77.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index reduced 76.78 points to 14,712.76, the Plantation Index declined 50.79 points to 7,099.34, and the Industrial Products and Services Index trimmed 2.54 points to 196.62.

Heavy selling was also spotted among the small capitalisation stocks which saw the FBM SCAP dipping 295.7 points to 16,555.94. — Bernama