KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 — Bursa Malaysia opened higher, but then turned lower thereafter, in line with regional peers and the weaker overnight performance on the Wall Street.
At 9.10am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 0.08 of-a-point to 1,642.21, from Tuesday's close of 1,642.29.
The benchmark index opened 0.17 point better at 1,642.46.
The market was closed yesterday on Labour Day.
RHB Investment Bank Bhd in a note said the market was jittery as the US Federal Reserve (Fed) held interest rates steady and showing little appetite to adjust them any time soon.
It said the policy statement and particularly Federal Reserve chair Jerome Hayden Powell’s insistence the Fed saw no compelling reason to consider a rate cut in response to weak inflation, prompted a modest sell-off in the Wall Street and pushed bond yields higher.
On the broader market, losers led gainers 142 to 129, with 202 counters unchanged, 1,414 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 218.14 million shares worth RM86.90 million.
However, the losses were capped by gains in the index's most heavily weighted counter, Maybank and selected oil and gas linked blue chips as well as the finance-linked counters such as Petronas Chemicals, PetGas, Hong Leong Bank and Public Bank.
Maybank and Petronas Chemicals rose one sen each to RM9.26 and RM9.01, while PetGas added 30 sen to RM17.98.
Of the actively-traded stocks, Bumi Armada, Sapura Energy were half-a-sen higher at 24 sen and 33 sen respectively, while ARB increased five sen to 58 sen.
For the gainers, Public Bank gained 14 sen to RM22.64, Hong Leong Bank rose 12 sen to RM10.68 and Pentamaster advanced 11 sen to RM4.43.
The FBM Emas Index fell 9.80 points to 11,643.04, the FBMT 100 Index was 9.61 points weaker at 11,459.64 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 26.94 points to 11,810.11.
The FBM 70 reduced 48.91 points to 14,529.90 but the FBM Ace added 14.70 points to 4,657.40.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 36.92 points to 16,999.62, the Plantation Index slid 25.37 points to 7,255.30 and the Industrial Products & Services Index was 0.12 point better at 170.05. — Bernama
