KUALA LUMPUR, June 13 ― Bursa Malaysia turned mixed this morning due to selling in selected heavyweights despite the Wall Street’s uptrend overnight, as traders anticipate the United States (US) Federal Reserve (Fed) to pause its rate hike campaign.

At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 1.0 point to 1,385.77 from 1,386.77 at yesterday’s close.

The key index opened 0.92 of-a-point firmer at 1,387.69.

The broader market was positive with advancers leading decliners 166 to 120, while 265 counters were unchanged, 1,693 untraded and 12 others suspended.

Turnover was 212.55 million units worth RM81.09 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI finally broke out from its slump yesterday due to bargain-hunting across the board.

“Nonetheless, the benchmark index remains at a two-week low as we see 1,390 as a strong resistance level.

“For today, we reckon the index to hover within the 1,380-1,390 range and if there is a decisive breakout from 1,390, we may see 1,400 as the next target," he told Bernama.

Thong expects the energy sector to see some headwinds as crude oil prices continued to decline, with Brent crude dipping to below US$72 per barrel ahead of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting tomorrow.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank added one sen each to RM8.64 and RM3.86, respectively, CIMB lost three sen to RM4.99 and Petronas Chemicals fell eight sen to RM6.57, while Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM9.26.

Of the actives, Eduspec eased half-a-sen to 3.5 sen and Kumpulan Jetson reduced 7.5 sen to 35 sen, while Sarawak Consolidated and Barakah Offshore Petroleum rose 1.5 sen each to seven sen and 34 sen, respectively, and Classita was flat at 10.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 0.36 points weaker at 10,216.76, the FBMT 100 Index edged down 0.39 of-a-point to 9,914.15 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 2.99 points lower at 10,549.62.

Meanwhile, the FBM 70 Index advanced 27.41 points to 13,502.48 and the FBM ACE Index went up 18.70 points to 5,095.33.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index recovered 6.21 points to 15,225.63, and the Energy Index ticked up 2.49 points to 780.36.

However, the Plantation Index weakened by 28.22 points to 6,729.42 and the Industrial Products and Services Index gave up 0.54 of-a-point to 159.27. ― Bernama