KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 — Bursa Malaysia opened lower in early trading today on weak market sentiment as concerns on the economic impact of the deadly Novel Coronavirus, which originated from Wuhan, continued to weigh on investors.
At 9.15am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 9.17 points lower at 1,541.30 from yesterday’s close of 1,550.47, after opening 0.78 of-a-point better at 1,551.25.
The overall market breadth on Bursa Malaysia was negative with losers outpacing gainers 200 to 153, while 199 counters remained unchanged, 1,439 untraded and 76 others were suspended.
Turnover amounted to 287.48 million shares worth RM132.90 million.
In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said investors remained cautious on the economic impact from the Coronavirus outbreak.
“With the lack of fresh leads, we reckon that the key index will continue to trade in a downward bias momentum with the key index already re-testing the 1,550 key support level.
“A fall beyond the aforementioned level will see the key index tumbling to fresh four-year low towards the 1,535 level or even the 1,500 psychological level. Any recovery is expected to be insignificant with gains limited towards the 1,575 for the time being,” it added.
On heavyweights, Maybank was flat at RM8.45, Public Bank declined 18 sen to RM18.82, Tenaga eased four sen to RM12.52 and Petronas Chemicals was eight sen lower at RM6.50.
Among actives were Avillion, which was unchanged at 16 sen, while MCLean Technologies and RGB International gained 1.5 sen each to 28.5 sen and 19 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 51.98 points to 11,027.64, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 72.23 points to 11,712.05, the FBMT 100 Index lost 52.79 points to 10,817.83, the FBM 70 was 20.75 points weaker at 13,972.54, and the FBM Ace increased 21.13 points to 5,656.92.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.48 of-a-point to 148.05, the Financial Services Index was 48.92 points lower at 14,865.23 and the Plantation Index lost 70.82 points to 7,143.38. — Bernama
