Bursa Malaysia volatile in early trade

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia traded sideways, in early trade, on lack of fresh leads, amid negative external sentiment.
At 9.34am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,736.19, up 0.35 of-a-point from yesterday's close of 1,739.35.
The key index opened 0.01 of-a-point lower at 1,735.83.
A dealer said stocks were likely to remain range bound given the rising geopolitical concerns abroad, as well as, lack of positive catalysts locally.
On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index increased 5.05 points to 12,397.12, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 0.649 of a point to 12,868.34 and the FBMT100 Index gained 2.609 points to 12,020.68.
The FBM 70 improved 3.75 points to 14,721.4 and the FBM Ace chalked up 16.91 points to 6,230.68.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index was 0.61 of-a-point lower at 15,688.17 and the Industrial Index eased 1.99 points to 3,253.23 but the Plantation Index edged up 0.14 of-a-point to 8,065.7.
The market breadth was positive as gainers led losers 252 to 214 with 308 counters unchanged, 965 untraded while 15 others were suspended.
Turnover stood at 747.11 million shares worth RM174.51 million.
Among heavyweights, Maybank eased one sen to RM8.97, TNB lost four sen to RM13.68 and Sime Darby edged down three sen to RM9.29.
Public Bank and Petronas Chemicals were flat at RM19.98 and RM7.63, respectively.
Of actives, AT Systematization, Ho Wah Genting, Key Alliance and Hubline earned half-a-sen each to 5.5 sen, 7.5 sen, 8.5 sen and 9 sen, respectively.
Malayan United lost 2.5 sen to 25.5 sen.
The physical price of gold as at 9:30am stood at RM176.16 per gramme, up RM2.90 from RM173.26 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama