KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 ― Bursa Malaysia opened lower today due to profit-taking in selected heavyweights, dealers said.
At 9.52am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 8.18 points to 1,529.62 from yesterday’s close of 1,537.80.
It opened 1.31 points lower at 1,536.49.
Market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers 453 to 204, while 357 counters were unchanged, 1,230 untraded and seven others suspended.
Turnover stood at 931.15 million units worth RM473.44 million.
In a research note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said it expects the consolidation phase in the local market to persist for the near term, given the weak sentiment from the overnight Wall Street.
“Commodity-wise, crude palm oil (CPO) price had traded above the RM4,500 per tonne mark on the back of supply concerns as production normally peaks in September-October and decent prospects of rising demand under the recovery environment.
“The all-time high CPO price may bode well for the plantation sector.
“We also reckon bargain hunting activities in recovery theme stocks would persist, thus investors may be on the lookout for consumer, aviation and tourism stocks,” it said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank added 2.0 sen to RM8.07, while Public Bank and TNB declined 1.0 sen each to RM4.06 and RM9.67, respectively, Petronas Chemicals fell 8.0 sen to RM8.62, and IHH Healthcare went down 3.0 sen to RM6.67.
Of the actives, Sapura Energy eased half-a-sen to 11 sen, NWP Holdings was flat at 26.5 sen, while MESB rose 8.0 sen to 55.5 sen, and Widad Group earned half-a-sen to 39.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 46.55 points to 11,264.53, the FBMT 100 Index shed 50.59 points to 10,947.16, the FBM Emas Shariah Index went down 58.61 points to 12,300.40, the FBM 70 was 39.61 points weaker at 14,941.14, and the FBM ACE narrowed by 34.23 points to 7,124.67.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 1.05 points to 203.18, the Plantation Index gained 19.09 points to 6,347.43, and the Financial Services Index slipped 32.55 points to 15,174.80. ― Bernama
