KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 — Bursa Malaysia extended yesterday's losses to open easier today on lack of strong market catalysts, said a dealer.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 1.75 points to 1,635.65, from Monday's close of 1,637.40.
The benchmark index opened 2.78 points weaker at 1,634.62.
In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said Malaysian stocks continue to stay decoupled from the performance of most global and regional equity markets, but the upside bias remains elusive with few available catalysts to provide the much-needed impetus to lift market sentiment.
“Under the prevailing environment, it appears that the mixed trend is likely to persist with the key index likely to tether near its three-year low for longer,” it said.
Meanwhile, Kenanga Research said short-term consolidation could be the case for this week’s trading, given momentum indicators still display some weaknesses as seen in the flat-lining.
“A decisive take-down of the 1,660 (R1) is vital for the local index to trend upwards towards 1,700. Reluctance to go beyond R1 would see the index retrace towards 1,615 and 1,600,” it said in a note.
On the broader market, gainers and losers both stood at 103, with 169 counters unchanged, 1,528 untraded and 51 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 72.75 million shares worth RM25.75 million.
Among heavyweights, Maybank and Petronas Chemicals rose two sen each to RM9.16 and RM9.02 respectively, Public Bank fell two sen to RM22.54 and TNB decreased four sen to RM12.16.
Of the actively-traded stocks, Daya Materials gained half-a-sen to 1.5 sen, while Bumi Armada and Orion IXL were flat at 23.5 sen and 19.5 sen respectively.
For the gainers, MISC increased 18 sen to RM6.98, Amway added 15 sen to RM6.15 and F&N was 14 sen higher at RM34.86.
The FBM Emas Index fell 10.03 points to 11,622.63, the FBMT 100 Index was 10.52 points weaker at 11,436.50 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 20.99 points to 11,805.72.
The FBM 70 reduced 6.37 points to 14,592.17 but the FBM Ace added 19.25 points to 4,688.34.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 7.44 points to 16,894.81, the Plantation Index slid 32.92 points to 7,241.12 and the Industrial Products & Services Index was 0.41 point better at 170.49. — Bernama
