Bursa Malaysia Opens Lower, Tracking Weaker Wall Street
By Rosemarie Khoo & Fatin Umairah Abdul Hamid
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Thursday, tracking Wall Street’s broadly weaker performance overnight amid rising crude oil prices and US Treasury yields, an analyst said.
At 9.10 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 5.01 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 1,709.33 from Wednesday’s close of 1,714.34.
The index opened 1.64 points lower at 1,712.70.
Market breadth was subdued, with losers outnumbering gainers 244 to 146. A total of 317 counters were unchanged, 2,124 untraded and 21 suspended.
Turnover stood at 298.80 million shares worth RM127.53 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said heightened geopolitical tensions in West Asia, which had pushed crude oil prices higher, had been the main headwind for regional markets, with Brent crude surpassing US$100 a barrel, a level not seen since May.
Meanwhile, Thong said the US Treasury Department had indicated that it would push for increased long-term bond purchases amounting to US$6 billion, while the US 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 4.845 per cent.
“As a result, trading activity has been subdued.
“For today, we anticipate another lacklustre trading session, with the index expected to trend between 1,710 and 1,720,” he told Bernama.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Tenaga Nasional rose 6.0 sen each to RM10.52 and RM13.80 respectively, while Public Bank added 2.0 sen to RM4.91. CIMB was flat at RM7.91, while IHH Healthcare declined 2.0 sen to RM7.90.
Actively traded stocks included Zetrix AI, which fell 2.5 sen to 24.5 sen, and Ni Hsin, which dropped 8.5 sen to 21.5 sen. HHRG and MAG were both flat at 17.5 sen and 15.5 sen respectively, while GIIB gained half a sen to 54 sen.
The top gainers were led by United Plantations, which rose 42 sen to RM33.42, followed by F&N, which gained 38 sen to RM24.48. Henyuan Refining recovered 15 sen to RM3.31, Petronas Chemicals advanced 10 sen to RM4.65, and Paragon Union firmed 9.0 sen to RM1.58.
The top losers included Hong Leong Financial, which eased 20 sen to RM18.84, Malaysian Pacific Industries, which shed 16 sen to RM40.80, and Telekom, which fell 11 sen to RM8.07. UWC and Malayan Cement each lost 10 sen to RM6.68 and RM5.43 respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Mid 70 Index lost 57.90 points to 17,806.66, while the FBM ACE Index fell 11.40 points to 5,286.26.
The FBM Emas Index weakened 36.93 points to 12,644.08, the FBM Top 100 Index slid 37.42 points to 12,442.54, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 31.15 points to 12,475.75.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slipped 64.79 points to 19,982.76, while the Plantation Index strengthened 6.33 points to 9,456.30.
The Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.11 of a point to 187.95, while the Energy Index gained 5.30 points to 823.83.
-- BERNAMA