KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 12 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia opened lower this morning due to the lack of risk appetite from investors, amid weak regional sentiment, dealers said.

At 9.03am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was down 3.59 points to 1,839.23, after opening 3.12 points lower at 1,839.7.

HwangDBS Vickers Research said after rising by 44.4 points or 2.5 per cent in the past 10 market days, the benchmark FBM KLCI could take a rest today.

“From a technical perspective, the key index may show a marginal negative bias, possibly testing the immediate resistance-turned-support level of 1,840 ahead,” the research firm said in a note. “Sentiment will likely be dented too by an overnight drop on Wall Street.”

Major US bellwether stocks fell 0.8-1.4 per cent at the closing bell on speculation that the Federal Reserve might begin reducing its monetary stimulus as early as next week, following a budget compromise reached on government spending.

HwangDBS said among the stocks that might be in the limelight today were Coastal Contracts and Berjaya Assets.

Coastal Contracts has secured contracts for the sale of vessels for approximately RM148 million.

Berjaya Assets reported that it was set to expand its presence in Johor, following its partnership with the Sultan of Johor, who has just acquired a stake in a subsidiary company.

UEM Sunrise will also be a focus as the company may be omitted from the FBM KLCI members list in a semi-annual review, with the results likely to be announced this evening.

On the scoreboard, the Industrial Index rose 5.39 points to 3,120.81, but the Finance Index fell 34.29 points to 16,882.06 and the Plantation Index declined 9.42 points to 8,984.14.

The FBM Emas Index lost 19.9 points to 12,710.31, the FBMT100 Index dipped 20.35 points to 12,442.55, and the FBM 70 eased 6.9 points to 14,179.38, while the FBM Ace gained 1.8 points to 5,627.25.
Losers led gainers 68 to 59, with 95 counters unchanged, 1,340 untraded and 19 others suspended. Turnover stood at 12.565 million shares worth RM11.792 million.

Among actives, Astral Supreme and Tiger Synergy were flat at 18.5 sen and 22.5 sen respectively.

Of the heavyweights, TNB lost 16 sen to RM11.14, Maybank shed 2 sen to RM10.06, and Axiata Group trimmed 3 sen to RM6.71. CIMB and Sime Darby were flat at RM7.71 and RM9.66 respectively. — Bernama