KL shares open higher and turn easier thereafter

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened higher prompted by the stronger ringgit, said dealers.
The FBM KLCI started the day at 1,771.39, against Thursday ‘s 1,771.04, but retreated thereafter.
At 9.54am, the index was 0.72 of-a-point lower at 1,770.32.
The ringgit opened stronger as crude oil prices continued to recover, said a dealer.
Earlier, the benchmark index opened 0.35 of-a-point better at 1,771.39.
On the broader market, losers led gainers 297 to 175 with 315 counters unchanged, 1,058 untraded and 23 others were suspended.
Turnover stood at 653.20 million shares worth RM334.47 million.
On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index fell 2.84 points to 12,622.88, FBMT 100 Index decreased 2.19 points to 12,274.75 and FBM Ace declined 26.14 points to 6,626.20.
The FBM Emas Syariah Index rose 8.11 points to 12,839.93 and the FBM 70 added 7.6 points to 15,099.35.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Index eased 1.86 points to 3,218.69, Finance Index erased 78.65 points to 16,680.09 but the Plantation Index gained 7.5 points to 7,924.77.
Among heavyweights, Maybank eased three sen to RM9.82, Sime Darby lost three sen to RM9.10, Tenaga gained two sen to RM14.46 while Public Bank was flat at RM20.58.
Among actives, Hibiscus perked one sen to 62.5 sen, MMAG improved four sen to 26 sen but Scomi shed half-a-sen to 18.5 sen and Trive Property was flat at 16 sen.
Gold futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives was untraded as at 9.45am.
Both September 2017 and October 2017 remained pegged at RM175.80 per gramme, respectively, while November 2017 and December 2017 was unchanged t RM176.00 per gramme, respectively.
Turnover stood at two lots while open interest amounted to 142 contracts.
Physical gold was down 94 sen at RM168.39 per gramme at 9.30am. — Bernama