KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session broadly lower, in tandem with the downtrend in most regional bourses ahead of the US jobs report later today, an analyst said.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 11.34 points or 0.8 per cent, to 1,409.09 from yesterday's close of 1,420.43.
The benchmark index opened 1.36 points better at 1,421.79.
On the broader market, decliners trounced gainers 473 to 217, while 334 counters were unchanged, 1,323 untraded and seven others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.21 billion units worth RM733.37 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street ended lower overnight as traders awaited the US jobs data which is expected to be out later today.
The DJIA declined by 347 points while the Nasdaq lost 75 points as the US 10-year yield inched higher to almost the 3.83 per cent mark.
“We reckon the index will trend within the 1,410 to 1,420 range today,” he told Bernama.As crude palm oil continues to chart higher at above the RM3,600 level due to anticipated stronger demand, Thong expects some buying interest in plantation stocks today. Oil and gas stocks may also benefit from recent strong crude oil prices that saw Brent crude hovering above US$94 per barrel, he said.
Among the heavyweight stocks, both Maybank and Petronas Chemicals slipped four sen to RM8.63 and RM8.60, respectively, while IHH Healthcare lost five sen to RM5.76. Public Bank added two sen to RM4.27 and CIMB was flat at RM5.26.
Of the actives, Top Glove eased three sen to 64.5 sen, Citaglobal reduced 2.5 sen to 25 sen, while MMAG Holdings, Serba Dinamik and MY E.G. were flat at 2.5 sen, two sen and 90.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index went down 68.42 points to 10,065.17, the FBMT 100 Index narrowed 70.47 points to 9,815.53, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 103.45 points to 10,093.68. The FBM 70 reduced by 54.17 points to 12,254.70 and the FBM ACE lost 55.29 points to 4,688.37.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.51 of a point to 174.21, the Plantation Index declined 71.42 points to 6,490.72, and the Financial Services Index shed 43.29 points to 16,077.73. The Energy Index, however, edged up 0.39 of a point to 698.69.
Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd has announced the transfer of Opensys (M) Bhd shares from the ACE Market to the Main Market under the technology sector.
In a statement, it said the transfer would take effect from October 12, 2022, at 9am. ― Bernama
