KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 6 ― Bursa Malaysia opened broadly lower today, in tandem with regional markets, as weak sentiment weighed on investors’ risk appetite, dealers said.
At 9.09am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 5.4 points to 1,542.55 compared with 1,547.95 at yesterday’s close.
The index opened 1.49 points weaker at 1,546.46.
On the broader market, losers led gainers 286 to 94, while 244 counters were unchanged, 1,649 untraded and 15 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 198.58 million units valued at RM94.34 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said sentiment on the local bourse might turned cautious today, tracking the negative performance on Wall Street overnight following the December United States Federal Reserve meeting minutes, which suggested the tone is more hawkish and the market may anticipate faster rate hikes and quicker tapering progress.
The research house believes the advanced crude palm oil (CPO) price on the back of concerns over supply disruption due to flooding would continue to lend support to plantation stocks.
“Besides, oil and gas counters may be under the limelight as crude oil price trended higher above the US$80 (RM336.08) per barrel mark. Also, traders might move back to value stocks with the US Fed turning more hawkish,” it said in a note.
CPO price hovered around RM5,000 per tonne, while crude oil price rose above the US$80 per barrel mark.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank shed three sen to RM8.32, Public Bank slipped one sen to RM4.16, Petronas Chemicals lost six sen to RM8.72, CIMB trimmed two sen to RM5.45, while IHH Healthcare was flat at RM6.86.
Of the actives, Dagang Nexchange slid one sen to 83 sen, Opcom gained one sen to 96 sen, while Pasukhas and SMTrack were flat at 2.5 sen and 26 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 30.28 points lower at 11,219.47, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 34.7 points to 12,067.42, the FBM ACE fell 73.06 points to 6,610.88, the FBM 70 erased 38.29 points to 14,328.72, and the FBMT 100 Index contracted 36.05 points to 10,900.82.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 1.1 points to 201.26, the Financial Services Index gave up 36.79 points for 15,676.1, and the Plantation Index declined 20.27 points to 6,634.15. ― Bernama
