KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 -- Bursa Malaysia opened lower today tracking losses on Wall Street and in Europe, following the United States-China trade woes, dealers said.  

At 9.06am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 5.63 points lower at 1,687.76 from yesterday's close of 1,693.39.  

The index opened 4.88 points lower at 1,688.51. 

Market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers 127 to 75, while 112 counters were unchanged, 1,540 untraded and 24 others suspended.

Advertisement

Turnover was at 78.17 million shares worth RM45.52 million.

Public Investment Bank Bhd said the FBM KLCI was in the red after US and European stocks retreated yesterday on growing concerns about US-China trade tensions and slowing economic growth.

The S&P 500 lost 0.9 per cent on the day after having dipped as low as 1.6 per cent following news reports that US President Donald Trump is unlikely to meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping this month, thus delaying a potential end to Sino-US trade disputes.

Advertisement

“The benchmark index is coming off its best January since 1987. The Dow slid 220.77 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 25,169.53 while the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 86.93 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 7,288.35,” it said in a note. 

Meanwhile, the research firm said in Europe, government bonds rallied and equities weakened after the European Commission cut its economic growth forecasts for the Eurozone.

Among heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank and Public Bank lost two sen each to RM9.57 and RM24.84 respectively, Tenaga declined 16 sen to RM13.26, while Petronas Chemicals and CIMB gained two sen each to RM8.45 and RM5.67 respectively.

Of the most active, Bumi Armada rose half-a-sen to 23 sen, Naim Holdings improved five sen to 57.5 sen, while Seacera, Asia Media Group and Sapura Energy was flat at 27 sen, 15.5 sen and 26.5 sen respectively.

The FBM Emas Index declined 33.79 points to 11,719.63, the FBMT 100 Index erased 34.41 points to 11,598.55 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 50.04 points to 11,591.63. 

The FBM Ace Index trimmed 4.24 points to 4,512.74 and the FBM 70 slid 23.87 points to 13,981.7. 

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index inched down 0.87 of-a-point to 17,638.29, the Plantation Index shed 11.73 points to 7,308.04 but the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.04 of-a-point higher at 161.48. — Bernama