KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 — Bursa Malaysia extended yesterday’s losses to open lower today, tracking the weaker overnight performance of Wall Street.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 5.07 points to 1,682.61 from yesterday’s close of 1,687.68.
The index opened 3.90 points easier at 1,683.78.
On the broader market, losers trounced gainers 118 to 92, while 152 counters remained unchanged, 1,525 untraded and 20 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 150.37 million shares worth RM50.46 million.
In a note today, Public Investment Bank Bhd said the local bourse’s performance was in line with the US markets which gave up overnight gains as trade-related uncertainties flared up again following negative reports on the state of progress in the US-China trade talks.
On the technical side, the research house said the benchmark index was anticipated to trend sideways for the rest of the week with heavier selling pressure, hovering between 1,680 and 1,700 marks.
“Support levels for the index are at 1,622-point, 1,664-point and 1,680-point, while the resistance levels are at 1,700-point, 1,720-point and 1,734-point,” it said.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank lost one sen to RM9.47, Public Bank reduced six sen to RM24.42. Tenaga was eight sen lower at RM13.12, Petronas Chemicals erased 10 sen to RM9.15 and CIMB was 20 sen weaker at RM5.45.
Stocks that were actively traded were Dynaciate, bagging half-a-sen to 9.5 sen, Sapura Energy inched down half-a-sen to 34 sen, Jag and Perdana Petroleum added one sen each to six sen and 40 sen, respectively, while Dayang was three sen firmer at RM1.41.
Nestle led the losers list after giving up 20 sen to RM147.60 while Spritzer emerged as the top gainer by accumulating nine sen to RM2.19.
The FBM Emas Index slid 25.96 points to 11,743.44, the FBMT 100 Index shrank 29.75 points to 11,592.38, the FBM Emas Shariah Index contracted 33.79 points to 11,756.46 and the FBM 70 shrank 15.19 points to 14,095.72.
The FBM Ace Index, however, rose 23.84 points to 4,843.66.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index trimmed 23.39 points to 17,452.61, the Industrial Products and Services Index went down 0.65 of-a-point to 169.93 and the Plantation Index was 33.35 points lower at 7,229.31. — Bernama
