KUALA LUMPUR, May 4 — Bursa Malaysia opened lower today on lack of buying as the market’s sentiment was affected by the potential implementation of the movement control order (MCO) 3.0.

At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 0.27 of-a-point to 1,590.46 from yesterday's close of 1,590.73.

The index opened 0.94 of-a-point better at 1,591.67, but then retreated slightly as market participants waited for fresh leads to get their momentum going for the day.

However, the overall market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 239 to 164, while 293 counters were unchanged, 1,456 untraded and six others suspended.

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Total volume stood at 253.41 million shares worth RM122.02 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the key index is likely to trade in consolidation over the near term as investors’ are still cautious, switching among recovery and healthcare-related stocks.

“Commodities-wise, the crude palm oil (CPO) price jumped by around 5.0 per cent to close above the RM4,000 level yesterday, while tin futures are at another record high position,” it said in a note today.

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The research house believes that plantation and metal-related counters may see decent trading interest, adding that investors may also focus on the semiconductor sector, following the strong demand for chips amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank eased two sen to RM8.25, Top Glove slid seven sen to RM5.41, Public Bank gained one sen to RM4.14 and TNB bagged three sen to RM9.96.

Of the actives, TDM increased one sen to 31.5 sen, while Tanco Holdings and Velesto Energy added half-a-sen each to nine sen and 16.5 sen, respectively.

Top gainers include MTouche which improved 15 sen to 26.5 sen, while Gopeng increased 13.5 sen to 97 sen and Sarawak Oil Palm added eight sen to RM3.91.

Of the losers, Careplus and Supermax trimmed eight sen each to RM2.82 and RM5.90, respectively, and Adventa decreased seven sen to RM2.20.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 4.00 points better at 11,711.48, the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 1.90 points to 13,146.08, the FBMT 100 Index gained 2.04 points to 11,362.88, the FBM 70 improved 18.15 points to 15,429.39, and the FBM ACE bagged 40.03 points to 8,750.64.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index increased 0.35 of-a-point to 198.29, the Plantation Index bagged 25.29 points to 6,942.54 and the Financial Services Index gained 13.61 points to 14,860.77. — Reuters