Bursa Malaysia mixed in early trade

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened mixed with the benchmark index weaker on lack of fresh catalyst.
At 9.09am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 2.51 points easier at 1,715.35 from Thursday's close of 1,717.86. The index opened 0.12 of-a-point lower at 1,717.98.
Market breadth, however, was positive with gainers lead losers 169 to 147 while 201 counters were unchanged, 1,326 untraded and 19 others were suspended.
Turnover stood at 142.34 million shares worth RM107.57 million.
The local bourse was closed on Friday for the Maulidur Rasul public holiday.
JF Apex Research said the FBM KLCI was expected to remain lacklustre today and trend lower towards the support level of 1,700 points following Thursday's weak performance.
Meanwhile, US markets tumbled on Friday on news that former national security adviser Michael Flynn would testify that he was ordered by President Donald Trump to make contact with Russians during the presidential campaign last year, it added.
Similarly, European stocks declined due to uncertainties in US-related to politics and tax reform.

On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index fell 14.25 points to 12,394.06, FBMT 100 Index shed 17.24 points to 12,052.22, FBM Emas Syariah Index decreased 47.66 points to 12,872.49, FBM Ace slipped 2.03 points to 6,309.6 and FBM 70 declined 20.69 points to 15,419.79.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index increased 34.71 points to 15,961.04, the Industrial Index eased 28.35 points to 3,144.54 and the Plantation Index perked 19.83 points to 7,914.02.
Among heavyweights, Maybank added four sen to RM9.29, Public Bank jumped 18 sen to RM20.08, Petronas Chemicals improved nine sen to RM7.49, Axiata was flat at RM5.33 and TNB slipped 14 sen to RM15.32.
Of actives, Perak Transit gained two sen to 30 sen, Supercomnet Technologies was 1.5 sen higher at 34.5 sen, Hubline was flat at 11.5 sen and MMAG Holdings shed half-a-sen to 19.5 sen.
The physical price of gold as at 9.30am stood at RM162.10 per gramme, down 66 sen from RM162.76 at 5.00pm last Thursday. — Bernama