KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 — Bursa Malaysia opened slightly lower on selling pressure in selected heavyweights as traders tracked huge overnight losses on the Wall Street triggered by a crash in oil prices and the spread of COVID-19.
At 9.03am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 1.79 points to 1,422.37 from 1,424.16 at Monday close.
At the opening bell, the FBM KLCI opened 8.3 points weaker at 1,415.86.
On the broader market, losers led gainers 410 to 66, with 153 counters unchanged, 1,377 untraded and 17 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 195.25 million shares worth RM102.25 million.
In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the sharp dive on crude oil prices yesterday left global equities in tatters.
“Compounding with the relentless foreign fund outflow, market conditions are increasingly frail and the weakness is likely to extend the selling spree on Bursa Malaysia stocks over the near term,” it predicted.
The research house also said that the selloff on US stocks is likely to resonate globally amid the fresh concern over the crude oil supply overhang coupled with the rising risk of global recession stemming from the COVID-19 outbreak.
On Bursa Malaysia, markets will still reel from the sharp downturn of crude oil prices and with the key index breaking the 1,455 support, conditions are turning increasingly dour with the next support.
The fall-out from the collapse of oil supply pact between the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia has drastic implications for the oil and gas sector, it said.
As a result, Saudi Arabia and Russia, both major oil producers, have sounded their intentions to increase oil production, further undercutting the price.
Meanwhile, Affin Hwang said Brent oil prices yesterday hit an intraday low of US$32 per barrel (down 30 by 30 per cent overnight), resulting in the Malaysian Energy indices to dive 25 per cent at the closing.
It maintained its “neutral” rating on the sector but cut the target prices for stocks under its coverage to factor in a higher risk premium to take into account near-term volatility.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell one sen to RM8.23, Tenaga lost 16 sen to RM12.34, Public Bank rose 14 sen to RM17.16 while IHH was flat at RM5.69.
Of the actives, Dayang Enterprise shed 22 sen to RM1.30, Sapura Energy and Velesto energy added half-a-sen each to 11 sen and 16 sen respectively and Bumi Armada was one sen higher at 17 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index erased 51.22 points to 9,895.84, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gave up 71.88 points to 10,475.52 and the FBM 70 decreased 186.55 points to 11,737.57.
The FBMT 100 Index depreciated 44.24 points to 9,768.17 while the FBM Ace erased 94.75 points to 4,544.07.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.91 points to 118.80, the Financial Services Index inched down 16.35 points to 13,800.75 but the Plantation Index inched up 0.62 point to 6,294.74. — Bernama
