KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 ― Bursa Malaysia opened lower today, tracking regional peers and taking cues from an overnight drop on Wall Street.

At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 9.03 points to 1,482.0 from yesterday’s close of 1,491.03.

At the opening bell, the FBM KLCI opened 4.91 points lower at 1,492.36.

On the broader market, losers led gainers by 205 to 64, with 139 counters unchanged, 1,589 untraded and 17 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 135.0 million shares worth RM51.47 million. 

In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said calmer market conditions propelled the FBM KLCI higher for the third straight session yesterday as investors continued to nibble on the recent slump, a recovery  mainly in line with the gains across global equities stemmed by the US political developments, coupled with the measures undertaken by several central banks across the globe.

“Nevertheless, we remain cautious on the recent rebound as foreign funds continue to offload their holdings in Malaysian equities.

“It appears that the volatility on Wall Street remains unabated and continues to demonstrate wild swings, fuelled by concerns over the Covid-19 outbreak,” it said.

Under the prevailing market conditions, stocks across Bursa Malaysia may take a hit as the key index’s recent streak of recovery could stall, it added.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell eight sen to RM8.45, Tenaga shed 10 sen to RM12.54, Public Bank dropped 12 sen to RM17.88, IHH reduced four sen to RM5.56 and Petronas Chemicals lost nine sen to RM5.57.

Of the actives, Vortex edged up half-a-sen to eight sen, Sapura Energy eased half-a-sen to 15.5 sen, TH Heavy Engineering eased one sen to 10 sen while Borneo Oil and Pansar were flat at 3.5 sen and 65 sen respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 60.90 points to 10,472.31, the FBM Emas Shariah Index shed 56.98 points to 11,133.02 and the FBM 70 decreased 70.86 points to 12,849.93.

The FBMT 100 Index was 61.35 points lower at 10,292.94 while the FBM Ace rose 11.22 points to 5,304.66.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.77 point to 136.09, the Financial Services Index dropped 87.38 points to 14,373.33 but the Plantation Index improved 1.20 points to 6,767.97. ― Bernama