KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 — Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Monday with the key index falling 0.81 per cent, weighed down by selected heavyweights.
At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) decreased 1.26 points to 1,545.50 from Friday’s close of 1,546.76.
The benchmark index opened 0.41 of-a-point lower at 1,546.35.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 187 to 133, while 217 counters were unchanged, 1,764 untraded and 64 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 155.46 million units worth RM46.78 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, in a note, said sellers took a breather as Wall Street closed broadly higher, buoyed by slowing inflation news and strong retail earnings.
The Dow Jones Index Average ended 576 points higher while the Nasdaq jumped by 390 points.
“Reflecting the rally on Wall Street, we, however, reckon that the index to possibly trend higher today as regional performance is expected to see an upswing.
“Thus, we believe the index to hover within the 1,540-1,555 range today,” the firm said.
Meanwhile, crude oil prices edged higher as demand is seen to improve amid declining inventories. As such, Brent crude is inching towards the US$120 per barrel.
Among the heavyweights, both Maybank and Public Bank slipped 1.0 sen to RM8.98 and RM4.61, respectively, IHH Healthcare lost 5.0 sen to RM6.55, Tenaga Nasional slid 3.0 sen to RM9.22, while Petronas Chemicals rose 6.0 sen to RM10.04.
Of the actives, Green Packet, Sapura Energy and Serba Dinamik added half-a-sen each to 8.5 sen, 8.5 sen and 11.5 sen, respectively, SDS Group increased 2.5 sen to 40.5 sen, and Cnergenz gained 1.0 sen to 63.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 2.88 points higher at 11,014.0, the FBMT 100 Index went up 0.53 of-a-point to 10,708.21, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 4.19 points to 11,396.08, the FBM 70 rose 38.35 points to 13,136.19, and the FBM ACE gained 36.59 points to 5,183.29.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index improved 0.58 of-a-point to 199.99, while the Financial Services Index fell 2.41 points to 16,642.0, and the Plantation Index declined 18.95 points to 7,990.77. — Bernama
