KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia extended losses from Monday to open lower today as sentiment was hit by the weaker ringgit and crude palm oil (CPO) prices.
In a note today, Maybank Investment Bank Bhd (Maybank IB) said the negative performance on the local bourse was also due to an overnight sell-off on US markets.
At 9.05 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 10.95 points to 1,685.19 from yesterday’s close of 1,696.14, after opening 9.48 points easier at 1,686.66 today.
Market breadth was bearish with losers outnumbering gainers 303 to 39, with 118 unchanged, 1,422 untraded and 20 others suspended.
Volume stood at 140.65 million units valued at RM66.18 million.
The ringgit has been under siege since the government revealed a wider fiscal deficit in the 2019 Budget, while CPO futures were traded at a three-year low yesterday on higher stock levels for Oct.
For Bursa Malaysia on the technical front, Maybank IB expects the FBM KLCI to range between 1,660 and 1,700 today, while downside supports are at the 1,680 and 1,658 levels.
Among heavyweights, Maybank eased seven sen to RM9.13, Public Bank declined 22 sen to RM24.46, Tenaga was 14 sen weaker at RM14.70, Petronas Chemicals slipped two sen to RM9.55 and CIMB lost five sen to RM5.46.
Of Actives, Securemetric gained 27.5 sen to 52.5 sen, while Sapura Energy eased 1.5 sen to 36.5 sen, Hibiscus trimmed three sen to RM1.09, Sino Hua-An slipped 2.5 sen to 22.5 sen and Iris was down half-a-sen to 15 sen.
Heineken topped the losers list in giving up 56 sen for RM19.20, followed by KESM which declined 40 sen to RM10.34, Carlsberg dropped 36 sen to RM19.08, MPI shrank 16 sen to RM12.24 and United Plantations was 12 sen weaker at RM26.88.
The FBM Emas Index was down 81.83 points at 11,677.20, the FBMT 100 Index slid 78.28 points to 11,519.47 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 85.99 points to 11,834.80.
The FBM 70 slid 105.70 points to 13,600.03 and the FBM Ace Index was 55.31 points easier at 4,903.62.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index slumped 104.27 points to 16,966.69, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.67 of-a-point to 172.31 and the Plantation Index declined 29.28 points to 7,288.96.
Gold futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives were untraded in the early session today as the stronger US dollar slashed demand for the precious metal, dealers said.
At 9.32 am, November 2018, December 2018, January 2019 and February 2019 were each unchanged at RM163, RM163, RM163.10 and RM163.20 per gramme respectively.
Volume was nil, while open interest amounted to 27 contracts.
At 9.30 am, the price of physical gold was down 12 sen to RM157.03 per gramme. — Bernama
