KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 — Bursa Malaysia turned mixed this morning due to selling in selected heavyweights despite Wall Street's uptrend overnight amidst positive regional market sentiments
At 9.15am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined by 0.75 of a point to 1,458.68 from 1,459.43 at yesterday’s close.
The key index opened 0.53 of a point weaker at 1,458.90.
The broader market was positive as gainers led losers 166 to 160, while 289 counters were unchanged, 1,650 untraded and 17 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 338.17 million units worth RM113.23 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said it was another positive day on Wall Street amid a muted trading session as traders are waiting for big tech earnings and July’s job data this Friday.
The Dow Jones Index Average rose 100 points, while the Nasdaq added 29 points as the US 10-year yield remained flattish at 3.967 per cent.
Meanwhile, he said there may be additional measures to boost consumer spending as the private sector is slated to be the main engine of growth for the economy.
On the local front, the FBM KLCI staged a strong performance as it ends at a five-month high yesterday.
Buying from foreign funds remained apparent as blue chips continued to chart higher, breaking minor resistances along the way.
"For today, we expect such accumulation to persist as the index is nowhere near the year-to-date high yet, hence expect the index to hover within the 1,455-1,470 range.
"Though plantation stocks may see some headwinds due to weaker crude palm oil (CPO) prices overnight, we reckon buying may re-route to the energy and telecommunications-related counters today,” he told Bernama.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank added two sent to RM9.04, Public Bank gained one sen to RM4.18, while CIMB lost three sen to RM5.52, Petronas Chemicals fell five sen to RM6.90 and Tenaga Nasional was two sen lower at RM9.58.
Of the actives, both KGW and SWS Capital increased by 2.5 sen to 23.5 sen and 32.5 sen respectively, while Sapura Energy and Sarawak Consolidated went up half-a-sen each to 4.0 sen and 44 sen.
Komarkcorp was flat at 4.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index went down 1.86 points to 10,701.42, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 2.0 points to 10,390.88 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index weakened 5.88 points to 10,946.84, the FBM ACE Index eased 23.94 points to 5,306.19, while the FBM 70 Index perked 11.41 points to 13,961.0,
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index dwindled by 17.33 points to 7,163.10, and the Industrial Products and Services Index reduced by 0.49 of-a-point to 168.22.
The Financial Services Index earned 7.99 points to 16,282.04, and the Energy Index inched up 3.97 points to 834.12. — Bernama
