KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30 ― Bursa Malaysia remained lower at mid-morning, with the key index moving in a cautious and rangebound mode, taking cue from the weaker Wall Street performance overnight, dealers said.
At 11.02am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 3.25 points to 1,498.32 from yesterday’s close of 1,501.57.
The benchmark index opened 0.79 of-a-point easier at 1,500.78.
On broader market, losers led gainers 332 to 313, while 340 counters were unchanged, 1,347 untraded, and 53 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.14 billion units worth RM520.22 million.
In a note, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said Wall Street closed lower overnight as selling continued amid concerns over hike in interest rates and tightening US monetary policy.
“Though sentiment is expected to remain cautious along with heightened volatility, we reckon the local bourse will be well supported by the continuing net inflow of foreign funds, hence, we expect the index to trend within the 1,490 to 1,510 range today.
“Meanwhile, we anticipate buying interest may spillover to the energy sector as the Brent crude oil surged past the US$105 per barrel on fresh concerns over supply,” it added.
Among heavyweights, Public Bank added three sen to RM4.66, IHH Healthcare slipped 19 sen to RM6.15, while Maybank, Petronas Chemicals and CIMB were flat at RM8.94, RM8.90 and RM5.40 respectively.
Of the actives, Vortex edged up half-a-sen to 18.5 sen, UMedic added 6.5 sen to 62.5 sen, Agmo gained 3.5 sen to 95.5 sen, Metronic eased half-a-sen to seven sen, while Dagang NeXchange was flat at 85 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shed 4.86 points to 10,620.64, the FBMT 100 Index eased 7.37 points to 10,369.50, the FBM ACE went down 14.74 points to 4,867.06, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 17.19 points to 10,716.15, while the FBM 70 advanced 52.06 points to 12,675.72.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index was 21.09 points higher at 7,127.46, the Energy Index gained 5.41 points to 728.51, the Financial Services Index added 8.78 points to 16,731.17, while the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.13 of-a-point to 182.79. ― Bernama
