KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 — Bursa Malaysia retreated from yesterday’s gains in early trade today, driven by mild profit-taking following the recent rally, amid mixed sentiments in regional markets, a dealer said.

At 9.16am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 1.62 points to 1,543.09 from Monday’s close of 1,544.71.

However, the benchmark index opened 0.24 of-a-point higher at 1,544.95.

On the broader market, decliners and gainers were neck and neck at 208 to 201, while 328 counters were unchanged, 1,533 untraded and 12 suspended.

Turnover amounted to 424.31 million units worth RM155.39 million.

Given the neutral tone on Wall Street overnight, Malacca Securities said buying interest on the local front may be mild today.

"We believe the release of (the US) consumer price index and producer price index data (later this week) may sway the interest rate outlook.

"On the broader market, we expect buying support to persist on a milder tone. The iron ore futures plunged the most since 2022 as inventories piled up in China and it may translate to potential buying support in iron and metal-related stocks,” it said in a note.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell 2.0 sen to RM9.80, CIMB shed 1.0 sen to RM6.66, and Public Bank added 1.0 sen to RM4.31, while Tenaga Nasional and Petronas Chemicals were flat at RM11.24 and RM6.85, respectively.

As for the actives, Hong Seng was flat at 2.0 sen, Pan Malaysia advanced 2.0 sen to 16 sen, YNH Property went up 3.0 sen to 53 sen, and Microlink declined 11 sen to 42 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 5.07 points weaker at 11,448.31, the FBMT 100 Index trimmed 3.86 points to 11,116.65, the FBM ACE Index notched up 0.97 of-a-point to 4,699.61, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 3.04 points to 11,447.63, and the FBM 70 Index gained 26.86 points to 15,465.15.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index lost 8.57 points to 17,396.08 and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.63 of-a-point to 174.78, while the Energy Index inched up 0.15 of-a-point to 894.76 and the Plantation Index improved 3.22 points to 7,306.16.

BERNAMA