KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Wednesday, tracking US Wall Street’s decline after US October inflation data heightened concerns over inflationary pressures.
At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 3.94 points to 1,600.13 from yesterday’s close of 1,604.07.
The benchmark index opened 2.02 points lower at 1,602.05.
Market breadth was negative, with losers outpacing gainers 145 to 136, while 260 counters were unchanged, 2,774 untraded and 12 suspended.
Turnover stood at 271.32 million units worth RM84.19 million.
The media reported that the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.4 per cent month-on-month in October, above the consensus estimate of 0.3 per cent.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the data came in hotter than expected, increasing the possibility of a December rate hike.
It was also reported that US Federal Reserve (Fed) governor Christopher Waller indicated that a 50-basis-point hike could happen when the Federal Open Market Committee members reconvene on Dec 8 and 9.
Nevertheless, market sentiment remained cautious, although some bargain hunting was expected to emerge in the near term, with the index likely to trade within the 1,600 to 1,615 range today, he said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank was down four sen to RM10.02, CIMB dropped six sen to RM7.02, and Tenaga Nasional lost 16 sen to RM13.02. Public Bank was two sen higher at RM4.70, and IHH Healthcare rose 15 sen to RM7.89.
In active trade, ACE debutant SKA Capital surged 13.5 sen to 56.5 sen, MMAG Holdings climbed one sen to four sen, Ni Hsin Group gained half-a-sen to 10 sen, GIIB Holdings expanded two sen to 14 sen, while Zetrix AI shed half-a-sen to 5.5 sen.
Among the gainers, Nestle strengthened by 56 sen to RM95.56, UWC firmed 13 sen to RM6.27, Malayan Cement gained 12 sen to RM5.47, Press Metal Aluminium Holdings recovered eight sen to RM6.84 and MI Technovation perked six sen to RM5.99.
Among the top losers, United Plantation was down 22 sen to RM30.18, Westports Holdings lost 10 sen to RM7.31, Vitrox Corp contracted nine sen to RM9.76, and RHB and AMMB Holdings dwindled eight sen each to RM7.61 and RM6.56.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index tumbled 20.48 points to 11,872.48, while the FBM Top 100 Index plunged 22.33 points to 11,702.65, the FBM Emas Shariah Index contracted 11.03 points to 11,802.76, the FBM ACE Index trimmed 10.79 points to 5,199.20 and the FBM Mid 70 Index slid 5.08 points to 16,984.85.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slipped 49.97 points to 18,693.80, and the Plantation Index slumped 24.22 points to 8,635.59, while the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.54 points to 170.95, and the Energy Index was up 1.21 points to 780.87. – BERNAMA
