KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 — Bursa Malaysia was lower in early trade Friday following another round of profit-taking activities after a record high yesterday.

At 9.12am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 3.42 points to 1,624.84 with financial and healthcare sectors leading the laggards.

The index opened 0.35 of-a-point lower at 1,627.91 from Thursday’s close of 1,628.26.

On the broader market, gainers trumped losers 327 to 257, while 410 counters were unchanged, 1.129 untraded and 30 others suspended.

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Volume stood at one billion units worth RM479.71 million.

Malacca Securities reckons that the strong upsides yesterday may also attract quick profit-taking activities over the interim.

At the same time, the lower liners are set for the extended rally, largely driven by the ample liquidity as investors continue to seek higher yields investments.

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“Following the conclusion of the OPEC meeting that will see production to be raised at a smaller amount of 500,000 barrels a day versus the initial estimate of 2.0 million barrels a day, we reckon that the energy sector will continue to flourish.

“The construction sector will be supported by the upcoming packages of mega infrastructure projects, whilst the higher crude palm oil (CPO) prices bode well for the plantation sector,” it said in a note today.

CGS-CIMB said market breadth stayed positive for the seventh consecutive day yesterday.

“We believe that there is a change in the structure of the market following yesterday’s breakout above the 1,618-1,625 critical resistance.

“The breakout not only eliminated the lower lows and lower highs sequence from the April 18 highs and the hanging man (candlestick) patterns throughout November, it also confirms our bullish view that the benchmark is at the start of a multi-year bull run,” it said. 

In the US, equities ended mixed as investors weighed falling unemployment claims and Pfizer’s supply chain issues that would affect this year’s deliveries of its Covid-19 vaccine.

The Dow and Nasdaq up 0.3 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively, while S&P500 was 0.1 per cent lower.

Among heavyweights, 16 counters were in the red, with Petronas Gas dropping 12 sen to RM17.30 and IHH Healthcare declined six sen to RM5.44.

RHB Bank and Tenaga Nasional lost eight sen each to RM5.57 and RM5.29, respectively.

Seven heavyweights counters were in the positive note, with KLCC PROP & REITS and Axiata gaining 11 sen to RM7.71 and RM3.85, respectively, and Hong Leong Bank added eight sen to RM18.38.

Among the actives, while Yong Tai up five sen to 34.5 sen, Ho Wah inched up 11.5 sen to 96 sen, while Bintai Kinden eased two sen to RM1.12.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index reduced points to 11,748.54, the FBMT 100 Index inched down 10.15 points to 11,501.99 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index dwindled 8.62 points to 13,528.86.

The FBM 70 added 41.33 points to 15,208.71 and the FBM ACE decreased 38.59 points to 10,700.13.

Meanwhile, the Industrial Products and Services Index declined 0.01 of-a-point to 172.94, the Plantation Index went up 7.2 points to 7,381.35 and the Financial Services Index depreciated 26.39 points to 14,521.48. — Bernama