KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia opened mixed Thursday morning, with cautious market undertone still prevailing and could dampen the longer market outlook, according to a research note.
At 9.15am, the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 2.5 points to 1,664.04 from 1,6666.83 at 5 pm on Wednesday.
The barometer index opened 5.71 points lower at 1,660.83.
On the scoreboard, gainers slightly above losers 129 to 97, with 206 counters unchanged, 1,446 untraded and 21 suspended.
Turnover stood at 169.35 million worth RM106.03 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said while there has been renewed optimism in the trade dispute between the US and China, coupled with the easing geopolitical concerns, the global economy, and that of the Malaysian economy, are still in a state of flux as the slower growth is still unfolding that could lead to slower corporate earnings growth in its wake.
“The near term outlook is still largely indifferent with the lack of catalysts, although the lower liners and broader market shares made headway yesterday.
“Consequently, we think that further near term upsides could be tempered by bouts of selling activities as retail players would be quick to lock-in their profits,” it said in a statement.
Among heavyweights, Maybank was flat at RM8.94, Public Bank declined 14 sen to RM22.96, Petronas Chemicals eased two sen to RM8.34 while IHH rose three sen to RM5.67.
Of the actively-traded stocks, Iskandar Waterfront added one sen to RM1.11, Mestron shed half-a-sen to 15.5 sen and Ekovest was flat at 84.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index fell 3.78 points to 11,694.93, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 7.41 points to 11,545.79 but the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 1.58 points higher at 12,010.24.
The FBM 70 edged up 31.18 points to 14,372.06 and the FBM Ace gained 27.79 points to 4,351.10.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index shed 9.35 points to 16,668.21, the Industrial Products & Services Index inched down 0.05 of-a-point to 160.22 and the Plantation Index erased 38.58 points to 7,015.91. — Bernama
