KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia opened lower today, mirroring the dismal performance of global indices and investors’ nervousness over the stalemate US-China trade talks.

At 9.02am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 0.71 points to 1,656.82 after losing 11.41 points to 1,657.53 at yesterday's close.

Market breadth was negative with 91 decliners outpacing 80 winners, while 163 counters unchanged, 1,557 untraded and 21 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 91.98 million units worth RM29.80 million.

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Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd the market extended its downtrend today, especially in the main market amid negative sentiments on offshore markets as the US threatens to further inflame its trade war with China by piling more tariffs on Chinese goods entering the country.

It also added the negative trade sentiment has also caused regional key indices to dipped further into the red following jitters over earnings contraction in corporate America which was further compounded by the latest remarks by the US on its trade standoff with China.

“Under the prevailing environment, the FBM KLCI’s consolidation trend is likely to continue as there are still few signs of a recovery as yet. As it is, the key index is still undergoing an adjustment from its overbought spell after it gained more than 7.0 per cent in a span of six weeks.

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“The recent consolidation, however, has allowed its valuation to retreat back into its historical forward ranges of 14x-17x,” it said.

Axiata topped losers in the heavyweights as it shrunk nine sen to RM5.05, Genting Malaysia lost three sen to RM3.35, Dialog reduced two sen to RM3.48 while Digi, Sime Darby and Top Glove all eased one sen to RM4.92, RM2.19 and RM4.59, respectively.

Of the losers, Nestle eased 10 sen to RM147.00, Vitrox eased five sen to 55 sen, Yinson and Gabungan Aqrs declined three sen each to RM7.11 and RM1.46 respectively while Kerjaya Prospect and MyEG shed two sen to RM1.45 and RM1.55 respectively.

The FBM Emas Index fell 5.45 points to 11,772.13 and the FBMT 100 Index down 5.31 points to 11,596.24.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index was 9.55 points easier at 12,1396.31, the FBM 70 declined 8.09 points to 14,845.19 and the FBM Ace decreased 13.91 points to 4,655.60.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index perked 9.69 points to 16,621.24, the Plantation Index advanced 16.60 points to 6,892.63 and the Industrial Products & Services Index was slightly up by 0.03 of-a-point to 157.60. — Bernama