KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 ― Bursa Malaysia reversed yesterday’s gains to open lower in early trade today due to cautious market sentiment, taking the cue from the overnight weakness on Wall Street, a dealer said.

At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) trimmed 4.72 points to 1,581.42 compared with 1,586.14 at yesterday’s close.

The index opened 0.58 of-a-point weaker at 1,585.56.

On the broader market, losers led gainers 243 to 129, while 207 counters were unchanged, 1,701 untraded and 35 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 127.61 million units valued at RM92.96 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street declined to new year-to-date lows as the tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalate.

"The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI Average) fell 465 points while Nasdaq lost 344 points to end at just above the 13,000 mark,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, he said the United States 10-year treasury yield inched higher closing in to the two per cent level again.

"Despite the sharp decline on Wall Street, we reckon the local bourse to continue with its solid performance and expect the index to trend within the 1,580-1,595 range today,” he told Bernama.

Besides, he said oil and gas counters may be under the limelight as the Brent crude oil price ended above US$97 (RM406.28) per barrel fuelled by the situation in Ukraine.

"Crude palm oil hit another record high as it closed above the RM6,500 per tonne level,” he added.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank lost two sen to RM8.75, Public Bank, CIMB and IHH Healthcare  decreased three sen to RM4.33, RM5.52 and RM6.27, respectively, while Petronas Chemicals slid five sen to RM9.18.

Of the actives, Dagang Nexchange eased two sen to RM1.19, while Jag Bhd added half-a-point to 36.5 sen and Jaya Tiasa gained 2.5 sen to 91.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 33.45 points at 11,295.64, the FBM Emas Shariah Index inched down 33.05 points to 11,999.24, the FBM ACE slipped 41.27 points to 6,056.82, the FBM 70 gave up 53.30 points to 13,481.89, and the FBMT 100 Index dropped 35.00 points to 10,961.34.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index fell 0.93 of-a-point to 208.85, the Financial Services Index contracted 37.72 points to 16,301.48, while the Plantation Index ticked up 24.18 points to 7,894.22. ― Bernama