KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 ― Bursa Malaysia's main index extended its losses to open marginally lower today, tracking the weak performance on Wall Street overnight following a surge in crude oil prices, an analyst said.
At 9.24am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) decreased 2.96 points to 1,426.65 from yesterday's closing of 1,429.61.
The main index opened 0.32 of-a-point lower at 1,429.29
Market breadth was negative as decliners led gainers 202 to 179, while 243 counters were unchanged, 1,592 untraded and 21 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 437.74 million units worth RM183.18 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed lower as inflationary fears re-emerged amidst rising crude oil prices.
On the home front, he said the local bourse is expected to remain tepid on mixed sentiments, with the index to hover within the 1,425-1,435 range.
“Plantation stocks may be back in favour today as the crude palm oil rebounded to a two-week high at almost RM4,000 per tonne," he told Bernama.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank eased three sen to RM8.63, Public Bank, Petronas Chemicals, and CIMB all lost one sen to RM3.99, RM7.21, and RM5.32, respectively, while TNB fell four sen to RM9.21.
As for the actives, Revenue earned two sen to 27.5 sen, Jade Marvel gained half-a-sen to 31.5 sen, Pesona Metro added one sen to 24 sen, and Cypark lost 3.5 sen to 81 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 12.40 points to 10,480.23, the FBMT 100 Index declined 11.34 points to 10,164.66 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 4.20 points to 10,790.41.
The FBM 70 Index went up 25.15 points to 13,670.73 and the FBM ACE Index was 11.39 points lower at 5,318.54.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index shed 24.04 points to 15,755.46, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.38 of-a-point to 172.78, the Plantation Index firmed 26.44 points to 6,734.02, and the Energy Index contracted 2.88 points to 872.82. ― Bernama
