KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 — Bursa Malaysia opened slightly higher but turned marginally lower within minutes as it tracked the volatile trading session on Wall Street, an analyst said.
At 9.07am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.39 of-a-point lower at 1,437.73 from Monday's close of 1,438.12.
The benchmark index opened 0.86 of-a-point steadier at 1,438.98.
Market breadth was slightly negative with losers outpacing gainers 126 to 117, while 181 counters were unchanged, 1,918 untraded and 79 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 150.56 million units worth RM46.50 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of Equity Research, Thong Pak Leng said the Wall Street ended lower yesterday, weighed down by losses in technology stocks as the major indices failed to sustain their momentum from last week’s rally.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) eased by 0.2 per cent, S&P 500 Index fell by 0.3 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.72 per cent.
Meanwhile, the online equities broker is cautiously optimistic about the performance of local stocks in the near term, given the improvement of regional sentiments while the valuation of the benchmark index remains attractive compared with those of regional peers.
“Nonetheless, investors will remain wary as volatility both regionally and globally remain high.
“Hence, we anticipate the index to trend within the 1,430-1,450 range today,” said Thong to Bernama.
Among the heavyweights, Axiata Group rose three sen to RM2.77, Maybank and Dialog Group added two sen each to RM8.60 and RM2.15, respectively, while CIMB and Press Metal Aluminium were one sen higher at RM4.93 and RM4.70, respectively.
Public Bank eased one sen to RM4.43, while Petronas Chemicals and IHH were flat at RM9.20 and RM6.48, respectively.
Of the actives, both Green Packet and Dagang Nexchange gave up half-a-sen to six sen and 79 sen, respectively, Sapura Energy added one sen to 5.5 sen, while KNM and Yew Lee were flat at 12.5 sen and 25 sen, respectively.
On the index board, FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 12.87 points to 10,442.67, FBM 70 decreased 19.38 points to 12,505.17, FBM Emas Index fell 5.33 points to 10,280.99, FBM ACE was 24.24 points lower at 4,807.41, and FBMT 100 Index contracted 5.78 points to 10,0015.25.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index trimmed 0.54 of-a-point to 16,014.59, the Plantation Index decreased 0.40 of-a-point to 6,922.46, and the Industrial Products and Services Index was flat at 182.88. — Bernama
