KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 ― Bursa Malaysia opened lower in the early trade today on the back of persisting volatility in the market.
At 9.40am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 9.88 points to 1,533.04 from 1,542.92 at Monday's close after opening 1.22 points easier at 1,541.70.
The market was closed yesterday for the Thaipusam public holiday.
On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 453 to 168, while 296 counters were unchanged, 1,331 untraded and 27 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 712.30 million units worth RM385.44 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, in a research note, said the volatility might continue in the market over the near term while investors monitor for new developments of interest rate movement in the United States.
Meanwhile, technology counters might see another slump following the overnight tumble on Nasdaq, and commodity-wise, crude palm oil price bounced back above RM5,000, while crude oil price climbed above US$87 per barrel mark.
“Investors may see buying interest in banking counters following the selloff in the previous session ahead of Bank Negara Malaysia’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting on Thursday. Besides, plantation and oil and gas counters may gain traction as the commodity prices continued their uptrend move,” Malacca Securities said.
Of the heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals advanced six sen to RM9.01, TNB added one sen to RM9.05, while Maybank fell three sen to RM8.38, Public Bank declined five sen to RM4.17, and IHH Healthcare shed one sen to RM6.55.
Of the actives, Sarawak Consolidated advanced seven sen to 27.5 sen, Dagang NeXchange rose 2.5 sen to 89 sen, MQ Technology edged up half-a-sen to 7.5 sen, while SMTrack and NWP Holdings eased one sen each to 22.5 sen and 16.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 83.48 points weaker at 11,018.82, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 72.79 points to 11,705.23, the FBM 70 lost 165.23 points to 13,621.40, the FBMT 100 Index dipped 82.87 points to 10,723.86, and the FBM ACE reduced 37.69 points to 6,205.48.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index down 0.43 of-a-point to 200.51, the Financial Services Index contracted 155.40 points to 15,935.76, and the Plantation Index gave up 23.37 points to 6,639.81. ― Bernama
