By Danni Haizal Danial Donald
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Thursday but fell thereafter, tracking softer regional markets as early profit-taking activity capped gains.
The market was closed on Wednesday in conjunction with the Hari Raya Aidiladha public holiday.
At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI eased 2.32 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 1,696.70 from Tuesday’s close of 1,699.02.
The benchmark index opened 7.81 points higher at 1,706.83.
On the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 268 to 174, while 348 counters were unchanged, 1,890 untraded and 88 suspended.
Turnover stood at 262.59 million shares worth RM228.45 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, said Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index started on a weaker footing, extending losses following its decline to a two-month low previously, amid cautious sentiment over West Asia.
He said selling was broad-based, particularly within the real estate, energy and tech sectors.
“The FBM KLCI may see a continuous foreign outflow. The index is trading below the 1,700 level. Therefore, we are expecting investors to start bargain hunting. We anticipate the index to trend in the 1,695-1,710 range,” he told Bernama.
Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank and Tenaga Nasional were unchanged at RM10.94 and RM14.16 respectively, Public Bank slipped two sen to RM4.78, IHH Healthcare shed three sen to RM8.95, while CIMB gained six sen to RM7.74.
As for the active stocks, OGX and Inari Amertron each garnered eight sen to 43 sen and RM2.30, respectively. Hengyuan Refining rose 11 sen to RM1.29, GIIB was flat at 40 sen, while Astro eased half a sen to 55 sen.
Top gainers Kelington advanced 22 sen to RM7.54, Sunway and KESM Industries each increased 16 sen to RM5.40 and RM4.65, respectively, and Ajinomoto added 14 sen to RM13.10.
Of the top losers, Nestle fell 44 sen to RM94.54, Kuala Lumpur Kepong lost 42 sen to RM19.92, Petronas Gas slid 28 sen to RM16.68, Fraser & Neave declined 24 sen to RM28.26, and Petronas Dagangan narrowed 16 sen to RM17.48.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shed 23.62 points to 12,592.26, the FBM Top 100 Index eased 25.25 points to 12,432.34, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 42.40 points to 12,487.42, the FBM Mid 70 Index declined 72.02 points to 18,142.35, while the FBM ACE Index edged up 12.14 points to 4,723.63.
By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index grew 0.17 of a point to 198.20, the Financial Services Index notched up 5.10 points to 19,974.05, while the Energy Index slipped 2.83 points to 783.98, and the Plantation Index dropped 53.54 points to 8,481.74.– BERNAMA
