Bursa Malaysia mixed in early trade

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia reversed its gains momentum to open mixed this morning on weak sentiment following the retreat on Wall Street's overnight performance.
At 9.05 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 2.11 points easier at 1,847.6 from Monday's 1,837.01, after opening 2.18 points weaker at 1,847.53.
However, on the broader side, gainers led losers 107 to 89, while 154 counters were unchanged, 1,532 untraded and 22 others suspended.
Volume stood at 67.97 million units valued at RM31.97 million.
The US stock market started strong but retreated towards the closing session following reports that the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the office of President Donald Trump's longtime personal lawyer Michael D. Cohen.
In a note, Maybank IB Research anticipated the key index FBMKLCI to trade between 1,840 and 1,860 today, with the downside supports being adjusted to 1,812 and 1,796.
"Following the dissolution of Parliament, FBM KLCI continued to ride on a pre-election rally.
"Market, however, could remain volatile amid external uncertainties," the research house said in a note.
Among heavyweights, Maybank eased two sen to RM10.44, Public Bank lost six sen to RM23.88 and CIMB slipped one sen to RM7.01.
Tenaga gained two sen to RM15.90 while Petronas Chemicals was unchanged at RM8.48.
For actives, Sapura Energy inched down half-a-sen to 51 sen, while both Tiger Synergy and UMW Oil & Gas were flat at 2.5 sen and 24.5 sen, respectively.
The FBM Emas Index was 11.75 points easier at 12,874.05, the FBMT 100 Index trimmed 12.5 points to 12,705.3, the FBM 70 shed 8.02 points to 15,309.43 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 0.68 of a point to 13,058.04.
However, the FBM Ace increased 32.42 points to 5,187.51.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index fell 26.93 points to 17,970.42, the Plantation Index weakened 16.06 points to 7,923.85 and the Industrial Index eased 1.99 points to 3,212.12.
The physical price of gold as at 9.30am stood at RM160.46 per gramme, up 67 sen from RM159.79 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama