Bursa M'sia extends losses to open lower
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia extended losses from yesterday to open lower this morning, with most market participants on a risk-off mode ahead of the 14th General Election (GE14) tomorrow.
At 9.05 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was down 6.68 points at 1,821.52 from yesterday's close of 1,828.20.
The index opened 8.25 points lower at 1,819.95.
On the broader market, losers led gainers 131 to 57, while 136 counters were unchanged, 1,537 untraded and 15 others suspended.
Volume stood at 46.66 million units valued at RM21.16 million.
In a note today, Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd said market breadth was highly negative, possibly on uncertainties surrounding the outcome of the GE14.
"Given the uncertainties revolving around the elections, we expect the index to remain weak with investors likely to continue profit-taking activities," it said.
The research house added that the index might trend lower to its immediate support level at 1,770-1,800 points, while conversely, resistance could be identified between the 1,840 and 1,880 levels, should there be a positive turn in events.
Among heavyweights, Maybank shed six sen to RM10.48, Public Bank eased four sen to RM23.66, Tenaga was 16 sen lower at RM15.84, while Petronas Chemicals edged up one sen to RM8.45 and CIMB was three sen better at RM6.70.
For actives, SKH Consortium, Sapura Energy and Borneo Oil were flat at seven sen, 64 sen and eight sen respectively, while Opcom Holdings gained 3.5 sen to 48 sen and Hibiscus Petroleum fell one sen to 81.5 sen.
F&N led the top loser list in losing 74 sen to RM34.02, Petronas Dagangan slipped 40 sen to RM26.00, KLK trimmed 32 sen to RM25.04, Hong Leong Financial Group eased 22 sen to RM18.34 and Hong Leong Bank was 20 sen easier at RM18.24.
The FBM Emas Index retreated 46.88 points to 12,706.13, the FBMT 100 Index declined 47.77 points to 12,520.44, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 60.46 points to 12,910.19, the FBM Ace slid 18.45 points to 5,094.08 and the FBM 70 lost 63.92 points to 15,067.64.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Index slipped 19.27 points to 3,164.99, the Finance Index was 56.63 points weaker at 17,736.95 and the Plantation Index lost 45.08 points to 7,796.80.
The physical price of gold as at 9.30 am stood at RM161.22 per gramme, up 15 sen from RM 161.07 at 5.00pm yesterday. — Bernama