KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 — Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Tuesday but soon pared its gains, tracking Wall Street’s weaker performance yesterday.

At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) decreased 7.84 points to 1,718.04 from last Friday’s close of 1,725.88.

The benchmark index opened 1.61 points higher at 1,727.49.

Market breadth was negative, with losers outnumbering gainers 352 to 188. A total of 319 counters were unchanged, 1,922 untraded, and 24 suspended.

Turnover was at 788.49 million shares worth RM318.30 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed lower as the United States (US) and Iran traded fire, pushing both crude oil prices and bond yields higher.

“While crude oil prices remained elevated, the US 10-year Treasury yield edged higher to 4.754 per cent,” he told Bernama.

For today, Thong said bargain-hunting activities may emerge on the FBM KLCI, with the index expected to trend within the 1,720-1,735 range.

Among the heavyweights, CIMB Group gained two sen to RM7.98, Maybank fell 12 sen to RM10.56, Tenaga Nasional slid 30 sen to RM13.84, and IHH Healthcare eased three sen to RM8.22, while Public Bank was flat at RM4.95.

On the most active list, Zetrix AI fell six sen to 23.5 sen, Ni Hsin Group and HHRG both added 1.5 sen to 21 sen and 14.5 sen, respectively, Tanco Holdings slipped two sen to 16.5 sen, while GIIB Holdings edged up half a sen to 48.5 sen.

Among the top gainers, Hengyuan Refining surged 43 sen to RM2.38, Kuala Lumpur Kepong climbed 28 sen to RM22.28, Petronas Dagangan rose 18 sen to RM20.48, Sarawak Oil Palms gained 12 sen to RM5.47, and Telekom Malaysia added nine sen to RM7.81.

Among the top losers, Nestle tumbled 76 sen to RM99.34, Malaysian Pacific Industries fell 30 sen to RM41.26, United Plantations dropped 26 sen to RM31.68, RHB Bank declined 23 sen to RM8.45 and LPI Capital slipped 20 sen to RM13.28.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 48.56 points to 12,716.07, the FBM Top 100 Index declined 50.14 points to 12,524.71, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 49.99 points to 12,502.10, the FBM Mid 70 Index eased 42.21 points to 18,004.68 and the FBM ACE Index shed 28.62 points to 5,220.76.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index advanced 19.29 points to 9,328.95, and the Energy Index improved 9.81 points to 788.19, while the Financial Services Index fell 98.74 points to 20,144.73 and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.21 of a point to 189.06. — Bernama