KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 — Bursa Malaysia opened slightly lower today, tracking Wall Street’s weaker performance overnight.

At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 2.83 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 1,709.12 from Tuesday’s close of 1,711.95, after opening 0.52 of-a-point weaker at 1,711.43.

Market breadth was negative, with losers leading gainers 293 to 128, while 251 counters were unchanged, 1,950 counters untraded, and 10 suspended.

Turnover stood at 182.82 million shares worth RM117.84 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said upstream oil and gas players like Hibiscus and Bumi Armada may benefit from the recent crude oil price spike, while a spillover effect on Velesto may re-emerge, following its recent project wins.

The brokerage also said bargain-hunting in the pawnshop sector could resurface alongside elevated gold prices, potentially improving pledge redemption rates and boosting margins.

“Buying interest may appear in the banking sector, particularly CIMB, given its robust dividend yields among large-cap stocks, offering a hedge against near-term volatility,” it said in a research note today.

Among heavyweights, Petronas Gas advanced 14 sen to RM17.98, Maybank, TNB and Hong Leong Bank were flat at RM11.84, RM14.38 and RM23.40, respectively. Public Bank slipped two sen to RM4.87, and CIMB declined three sen to RM7.99.

On the most active list, Hengyuan Refining Company soared 17 sen to RM1.52, Perdana Petroleum grew half-a-sen to 18 sen, Bumi Armada gained one sen to 39 sen, and Capital A eased half-a-sen to 49.5 sen.

Top gainers included Nestle, which climbed 70 sen to RM108.20, United Plantations improved by six sen to RM29.96, Petronas Gas advanced 14 sen to RM17.98, and Petron Malaysia expanded by 12 sen to RM4.90.

Top losers were Fraser & Neave, which fell 38 sen to RM33.52, Atlan Holdings contracted 12 sen to RM2.50, Vstecs gave up eight sen to RM4.77, and Sunway Construction erased seven sen to RM6.70.

On the index board, the FBM T100 Index was down 21.03 points to 12,355.84, the FBM Emas Index gained 20.53 points to 12,531.89, the FBM 70 Index was 32.22 points lower to 17,325.79, the FBM Emas Shariah Index shrank 14.54 points to 12,157.31, and the FBM ACE Index slid 42.17 points to 4,573.59.

By sector, the Financial Services Index shaved off 37.31 points to 20,966.22, the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 0.16 of-a-point to 172.05, the Energy Index gained 12.77 points to 814.88, and the Plantation Index rose 9.95 points to 8,187.02. — Bernama