KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Thursday, reversing the previous session’s gains as escalating tensions in West Asia weighed on investor sentiment.
At 9.10 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 2.20 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 1,681.41 from Wednesday’s close of 1,683.61.
The benchmark index opened 2.62 points lower at 1,680.99.
Despite the weaker opening, market breadth remained slightly positive, with gainers outnumbering decliners 176 to 147. A total of 287 counters were unchanged, 2,086 untraded and 12 suspended.
Turnover stood at 145.44 million shares worth RM75.20 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said overnight Wall Street was mixed as investor confidence turned cautious following United States President Donald Trump’s statement that the ceasefire agreement with Iran had ended.
“For the FBM KLCI, we reckon selling activities may emerge following the collapse of the US-Iran ceasefire agreement, which pushed crude oil prices higher, with Brent crude currently trading above US$78 per barrel.
“In view of this, we expect the index to trend within the 1,675-1,690 range today,” he told Bernama.
Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank and Tenaga Nasional each gained two sen to RM10.96 and RM14.32, respectively. IHH Healthcare was flat at RM8.32, while Public Bank lost three sen to RM4.90 and CIMB slipped one sen to RM7.63.
Among active stocks, ACE Market debutant SRKK AI rose 27.5 sen to 59.5 sen. Tanco, GIIB and TWL were unchanged at 18.5 sen, 50.5 sen and 2.5 sen, respectively, while Iris Group added half a sen to 26 sen.
Among the top gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries added 30 sen to RM46, Nestle rose 18 sen to RM91.28, while Pentamaster and Vitrox each climbed 11 sen to RM4.65 and RM7.56, respectively.
United Plantations led the losers, falling 12 sen to RM34.22. MISC shed nine sen to RM7.85, Petronas Dagangan and Fraser & Neave were eight sen lower at RM19.56 and RM29.56, respectively, while Sunway Construction dropped six sen to RM7.45.
Among the broader indices, the FBM Emas Index fell 5.95 points to 12,456.06, the FBMT 100 Index declined 8.62 points to 12,285.14, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 0.74 of a point to 12,264.45.
The FBM 70 Index gained 19.25 points to 17,777.60, while the FBM ACE Index rose 10.29 points to 4,857.06.
By sector, the Financial Services Index slipped 20.53 points to 19,964.90, the Plantation Index declined 12.92 points to 9,081.46, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.14 of a point to 180.66. The Energy Index gained 2.05 points to 773.39. – BERNAMA
