KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 6 ― Bursa Malaysia relinquished gains from yesterday to open lower in early trade today as declining crude oil prices continued to dampen market sentiment, a dealer said.
At 9.11am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) index contracted 3.28 points to 1,662.42, after opening higher at 1,667.87.
Brent crude prices fell 80 cents to settle at US$36.42 per barrel.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 205 to 91, with 171 counters unchanged, 1,256 untraded and 12 others suspended.
Most regional and local stocks were also subdued due to the anxiety over rising geo-political tensions in the Middle East and renewed weakness in the ringgit.
Turnover only amounted to 134.48 million shares worth RM61.27 million.
On the scoreboards, the FBM Emas Index declined 10.14 points to 11,637.53, the FBMT100 Index slid 11.58 points to 11,307.49 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 19.19 points to 12,647.73.
The FBM Ace bagged 54.92 points for 6,371.69 and the FBM 70 was up 25.12 points to 13,095.39.
On a sectoral basis, the Finance Index rose 7.04 points to 13,974.16, the Plantation Index slid 39.49 points to 7,611.24 and the Industrial Index lost 11.41 points for 3,210.08.
Among top losers, BAT dropped 72 sen to RM54.28, PPB Group fell 22 sen to RM15.66, KLK eased 20 sen to RM22.80 and Petronas Gas weakened 16 sen to RM21.98.
For the heavyweights, Maybank eased one sen to RM8.32, TNB edged up four sen to RM13.24 and Public Bank gave up two sen for RM18.30. ― Bernama
