KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 — Bursa Malaysia opened on a mixed note today as investors extended bargain-hunting activities as well as profit-taking in selected blue-chips stocks, dealers said.
At 9.07am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 2.69 points lower at 1,546.89 from Wednesday’s close of 1,549.58.
The barometre index opened 1.37 points easier at 1,548.21.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 306 to 251, while 281 counters were unchanged, 1,196 untraded and 68 others suspended.
Trading volume stood at 1.34 billion shares worth RM399.57 million.
In a research note, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd is expecting the FBM KLCI to see a little reprieve as buying in glove stocks emerged yesterday.
“As such, we anticipate the index to hover above the 1,550 level and may test the 1,560 mark today,” said the online equities broker.
Meanwhile, the United States’ (US) stock markets had closed mostly higher on hopes that the US Federal Reserves will introduce more stimulus for the US economy.
Both S&P 500 and Nasdaq charted record highs again, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 83 points higher at 28,332.
“Regionally, we expect markets to remain mixed amidst the ongoing US-China tension,” it added.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank shed one sen to RM7.45, Top Glove dipped 20 sen to RM26.14, Public Bank rose 12 sen to RM16.72, Tenaga was flat at RM11.00 and Hartalega was down 40 sen to RM16.36.
Among the actives, XOX gained 3.5 sen to 33 sen, Key Alliance Group rose two sen to 13.5 sen and GPA increased 2.5 sen to 28.5 sen.
Meanwhile, top gainers UWC increased 19 sen to RM5.94, Unisem improved 17 sen to RM3.85, followed by Public Bank.
The list of top losers was led by Hartalega, followed by Pharmaniaga which slid 36 sen to RM5.28 and Supermax which lost 28 sen to RM21.00.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 18.39 points to 11,177.07, the FBMT 100 Index was 20.26 points lower at 10,976.73 and the FBM 70 depreciated 31.42 points to 14,618.22.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 41.72 points to 13,217.57 while the FBM ACE rose 31.68 points to 11,217.53.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index strengthened 4.56 points to 12,839.32, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 0.03 of-a-point to 140.68, and the Plantation Index added 9.77 points to 7,043.76. — Bernama
