.JPG "An investor monitors the stock prices in the gallery of the RHB Investment Bank Bhd headquarters in Kuala Lumpur March 17, 2020. u00e2u20acu2022 Picture by Hari Anggara")
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 — Bursa Malaysia opened lower today on lack of buying support as the market extended its sideways trading, awaiting fresh catalysts, leaders said.
At 9.18am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) were 2.02 points easier at 1,566.56 from yesterday's close of 1,568.58.
The barometer index opened 5.23 points weaker at 1,563.35.
On the broader market, losers led gainers 366 to 226, while 371 counters were unchanged, 1,071 untraded and 35 others suspended.
Trading volume stood at 1.10 billion shares worth RM694.67 million.
Meanwhile, the United States’ stockmarkets closed at fresh record high levels, with the Dow rising 1.4 per cent on the back of positive developments over Covid-19 vaccine.
For the day ahead, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the fast-tracking of an experimental Covid-19 vaccine may continue to weigh on the performance of glove-related stocks.
Nevertheless, the lower liners are set to continue their quest for recovery, supported by buoyant trading activities, it said in a research note today.
The brokerage firm also said the strong performance of pharmaceutical-related stocks could remain unabated with further gains on the horizon.
At the same time, the technology sector may also extend their gains on reports that Zodiac (China) Applied Science and Technology Research Centre Ltd is looking to inject RM1.50 billion for the development of 5G chips and encapsulation technology in Malaysia.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank gained two sen each to RM7.50 and RM17.00, respectively, Top Glove fell 62 sen to RM27.28, Tenaga was flat at RM11.00, while Hartalega dropped 52 sen to RM16.98.
Among the actives, XOX was flat at 23.5 sen, Bintai rose 4.5 sen to 45 sen and Iris added half-a-sen to 40.5 sen.
Top losers were Supermax which fell 68 sen to RM21.42, Top Glove and Hartalega.
Meanwhile, top gainers Dutch Lady increased RM1.00 to RM39.00, Pharmaniaga rose 42 sen to RM5.69 and Petronas Gas was up 28 sen to RM17.08.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 30.63 points to 11,287.42, the FBMT 100 Index was 30.18 points lower at 11,089.36, and the FBM 70 weakened 101.88 points to 14,663.03.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 60.02 points to 13,366.05 and the FBM ACE gave up 105.93 points to 10,839.89.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index recovered 15.15 points to 12,926.96, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 0.74 of-a-point to 142.03, and the Plantation Index declined 3.02 points to 7,056.23. — Bernama
