Bursa opens higher but turns easier thereafter

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened higher but turned easier thereafter as traders became cautious and stayed on the sidelines, a dealer said.
At 9.07am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.52 of-a-point lower at 1,777.63 from yesterday's close of 1,778.15.
The index opened 1.59 point better at 1,779.74 at 9am.
Overall market breadth was neutral with gainers thumping losers 169 to 103 while 226 counters remained unchanged with 1,262 untraded and 31 others were suspended.
Turnover stood at 140.59 million shares worth RM70.59 million.
Among heavyweights, Maybank gained one sen to RM9.36, Tenaga eased two sen to RM13.92, Public shed four sen to RM20.12 and Sime Darby slid one sen to RM9.32.
Of actives, Luster Industries gained half-a-sen to 14.5 sen, Iskandar Waterfront rose nine sen to RM2.07, Asia Bioenergy and Jag edged up half-a-sen each to 6.5 sen and 15.5 sen, respectively.
The FBM Emas Index appreciated 9.30 points to 12,747.34, the FBMT 100 Index increased 6.05 points to 12,371.04 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 13.51 points to 13,094.93.
The FBM 70 accumulated 43.72 points to 15,388.76 and the FBM Ace garnered 9.10 points to 6,501.42.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index was 1.05 points lower at 8,121.36, the Industrial Index decreased 9.70 points to 3,283.74 and the Finance Index rose 20.55 points to 16,429.50.
The physical price of gold as at 9.30am stood at RM166.90 per gramme, up RM1.18 from RM165.72 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama