FBM KLCI opens lower

KUALA LUMPUR: The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) opened lower today due to weak buying sentiment weighed down by Petronas-linked counters.

At 9.21am, the index was 6.53 points easier at 1,760.85 points after opening 0.34 of-a-point lower at 1,767.04 points.

However, gainers outpaced losers 173 to 154, with 181 counters unchanged, 1,319 untraded and 16 others suspended.

Turnover was low at 151.48 million shares worth RM89.89 million.

Leading the top losers list, Petronas Gas slid 52 sen to RM21.44, while Petronas Dagangan fell 40 sen to RM18.80, and Petronas' unit, MISC declined 20 sen to RM8.26.

Among heavyweights, Maybank was flat at RM9.17, Tenaga added 6.0 sen to RM13.30, Public Bank lost 18 sen to RM18.78 and Axiata lost 2.0 sen to RM6.47.

Meanwhile, IFCA MSC emerged as the top actively-traded stock, with its shares 9.0 sen higher at 1.47 sen, followed by Emico, which rose 3.0 sen to 23.5 sen.

On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index fell 15.5 points to 12,196.27, the FBMT100 Index decreased 20.42 points to 11,876.92 and the FBM 70 jumped 89.17 points to 13,416.68.

The FBM Emas Syariah Index lost 20.22 points to 12,641.79 points and the FBM Ace rose 67.72 points to 6,660.39 points.

On a sectoral basis, the Plantation Index eased 11.02 points to 7,402.64 points, the Finance Index lost 13.78 points to 15,790.34 points and the Industrial Index decreased 36.65 points to 3,191 points.
The physical price of gold as at 9.30am stood at RM135.78 per gramme, up 29 sen from RM135.49 at 5pm yesterday. – Bernama