Bursa Malaysia Opens Lower, Tracking Overnight Losses On Wall Street
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Friday, with buying interspersed with selling in selected heavyweights amid overnight losses on Wall Street, following rising crude oil prices, said an analyst.
At 9.15 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.47 of a point to 1,736.68 from Thursday’s close of 1,737.15.
The benchmark index opened 1.93 points lower at 1,735.22.
On the broader market, decliners outpaced advancers 210 to 185, while 350 counters were unchanged, 2,028 untraded and 21 suspended.
Turnover stood at 318.39 million shares valued at RM202.37 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street fell as crude oil prices climbed to around US$82 per barrel after Iran published a restrictive draft plan for the Strait of Hormuz.
He said traders are also waiting for July job data later today on United States non-farm payroll.
“Back home, the FBM KLCI declined as selling from foreign funds gathered pace late in the session.
“Selling was broad-based as traders may have decided to lock in profits after a solid performance recently,” he said.
Hence, Thong anticipates the index to hover within the 1,730-1,745 range today.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank slipped four sen to RM10.76, while both Public Bank and CIMB Group dropped five sen to RM5.18 and RM7.92, respectively. IHH Healthcare shed three sen to RM8.30, while Tenaga Nasional improved 12 sen to RM14.60.
Among active stocks, Perak Transit added two sen to 19.5 sen, and Steel Hawk edged up half a sen to 14.5 sen. Malaysian Resources Corp was flat at 34 sen, and TWL Holdings inched down half a sen to two sen.
Tong Herr Resources led the gainers, rising 50 sen to RM2.40, YTL Power International climbed 16 sen to RM4.53, Tenaga Nasional went up 12 sen to RM14.60, Sunway grew by nine sen to RM5.22, and Press Metal Aluminium garnered seven sen to RM8.06.
As for the top losers, Malaysian Pacific Industries shed 58 sen to RM47.08, United Plantations fell by 48 sen to RM33.72, Pentamaster Corp trimmed 28 sen to RM5.43, Kuala Lumpur Kepong declined 22 sen to RM21.38, and Petronas Dagangan reduced 12 sen to RM19.44.
Among the broader indices, the FBM Emas Index declined 6.39 points to 12,849.63, the FBM Top 100 Index shrank 7.19 points to 12,678.09, the FBM ACE Index eased 1.70 points to 5,036.05, and the FBM Mid 70 Index declined 26.29 points to 18,299.77. However, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose by 9.22 points to 12,700.76.
By sector, the Financial Services Index dropped 80.15 points to 20,439.70, and the Plantation Index fell 19.81 points to 9,444.74, while the Energy Index inched up 1.39 points to 763.80, and the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 0.77 of a point to 188.55.
-- BERNAMA