Bursa Malaysia opens mixed

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 — Bursa Malaysia opened mixed in narrow trade today, tracking the performance of regional peers and the release of China’s third-quarter gross domestic product data for clues on market direction, dealers said.

At 9.15am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slid 0.92 of a point at 1,573.58, from yesterday’s close of 1,574.50.

The benchmark index opened 1.78 points easier at 1,572.72.

However, on the broader market, gainers led losers 156 to 128, while 207 counters were unchanged, 1,512 untraded and 14 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 331.47 million shares worth RM138.28 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the broad market environment remains mixed with market players still hesitated over its direction as there remain few compelling market leads.

It said while the buying interest is also tentative, the selling pressure is also meek for now that is helping to provide some measure of stability to the beaten-down market.

The research firm said it expected Malaysian stocks could end the week on a firmer note due to the easing of selling pressure that could also allow the key index to build up a higher base at around the 1,570 to 1,580 levels after its bout of oversold.

“Amid the base building process, we also think that the broad market conditions will remain largely mixed due to the confluence of profit-taking and bargain hunting activities that could also keep the near term upsides modest for now.

“The supports, meanwhile, are at 1,566 and 1,550 points respectively,” it added.

Among heavyweights, Maybank added two sen at RM8.54, Public Bank gained four sen to RM19.32, Tenaga shed eight sen to RM13.68, Petronas Chemicals eased three sen at RM7.31 while IHH Healthcare was flat at RM5.74.

Of the most active, Green Packet's warrant, Bumi Armada, and Sapura Energy edged up half-a-sen each to 32.5 sen, 44.5 sen and 28 sen respectively, KNM Group and its warrant added 1.5 sen each to 46 sen and 19.5 sen respectively, while MYEG eased six sen to RM1.19.

The FBM Emas Index eased 3.44 points to 11,206.33, the FBMT 100 Index shed 4.57 points to 11,020.97 and the FBM Ace slipped 27.08 points to 4,767.58.

The FBM 70 bagged 1.70 points to 14,138.87 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 1.70 points to 11,842.33.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index increased 3.27 points to 15,224.78, the Plantation Index eased 0.06 of a point to 6,720.09 while the Industrial Products & Services Index was 0.19 of a point easier at 152.19. — Bernama