KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 — Bursa Malaysia opened slightly higher today but retreated thereafter, as investors took profit following the benchmark index’s rally to a two-week high above the 1,690 level last week.

At 9.10am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 2.49 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 1,689.0 from Friday’s close of 1,691.49.

The benchmark index opened 1.81 points higher at 1,693.30.

Market breadth was negative, with decliners outnumbering gainers 196 to 134. A total of 306 counters were unchanged, 2,078 untraded, and 33 suspended.

Turnover was 198.87 million shares worth RM78.81 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of Equity Research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street ended broadly higher, led by tech-related stocks.

In addition, sentiment improved on news that the US and Iran may have returned to the negotiating table.

Back home, he noted that the FBM KLCI rallied to a two-week high, surpassing the 1,690 mark as funds snapped up index laggards amid clear signs of bargain-hunting.

“Nonetheless, we believe the market undertone remains cautious, thus expect the index to trend within the 1,680-1,695 range today,” he said.

Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank and CIMB fell two sen to RM10.88 and RM7.62, respectively. Public Bank added one sen to RM4.90, and Tenaga Nasional rose two sen to RM14.32, while IHH Healthcare was flat at RM8.44.

Among active stocks, Tanco increased one sen to 20.5 sen, Land & General and VS Industry gained half a sen to 17 sen and 20 sen, respectively. Advance Synergy and Zetrix AI, however, both slid half a sen to 7.5 sen and 74.5 sen, respectively.

Among the top gainers, Nestle inched up 20 sen to RM92.0, LPI Capital was 18 sen higher at RM15.18, Petronas Chemicals rose 15 sen to RM4.45, United Malacca was 12 sen firmer at RM6.10, and Hibiscus Petroleum was up five sen to RM2.04.

Malaysian Pacific Industries led the losers, falling 68 sen to RM45.32. Petronas Dagangan erased 26 sen to RM19.30, Kuala Lumpur Kepong down 14 sen to RM21.46, SAM Engineering decreased 12 sen to RM4.66, while Hong Leong Financial eased 10 sen to RM18.50.

Meanwhile, Sime Darby Property Bhd announced in a Bursa Malaysia filing that trading in its shares will be halted from 9.00am today and will resume at 10.00am.

Among the broader indices, the FBM Emas Index lowered 13.73 points to 12,510.07, the FBMT 100 Index declined 16.95 points to 12,337.38, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index edged down 5.94 points to 12,367.67.

The FBM 70 Index contracted 19.21 points to 17,839.26, and the FBM ACE Index weakened 0.66 of a point to 4,892.77.

By sector, the Financial Services Index slipped 47.44 points to 19,874.21, the Plantation Index narrowed 30.43 points to 9,171.87, while the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.65 points to 183.23 and the Energy Index rose 6.15 points to 774.97. — Bernama