Bursa Malaysia opens easier

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened on an easier note today and amid weakened purchasing power as the ringgit strengthened, said dealers.

At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,624.46 points, easing 0.51 of-a-point from Monday's close of 1,624.97.

The index opened 0.8 points weaker at 1,624.17.

On the broader market, gainers led losers 85 to 65, with 110 counters unchanged, 1,438 untraded and 23 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 33.84 million shares worth RM16.12 million.

A dealer said the stronger ringgit was propelled by an increase in crude oil prices.

Alliance DBS Research said in a note, an analysis of overall market action yesterday, revealed that buying power was weaker than selling pressure.

"As such, the benchmark index would likely trade below the 1,624.97 level," it said.

Among heavyweights on Bursa, TNB bagged two sen for RM14.04, Petronas Chemicals rose four sen to RM6.90, Sime Darby was up five sen to RM8.17, while Maybank declined one sen to RM7.83 and Public Bank shed two sen to RM19.50.

Of the actives, KNM rose half-a-sen to 33.5 sen, MTouche declined one sen to seven sen, while MQ Technology, Hibiscus and Vivocom were flat at 10 sen, 31 sen and 16 sen respectively.

The FBM Emas Index fell 0.22 of a point to 11,366.43, the FBMT100 Index was 1.27 points lower at 11,099.02 and the FBM Emas Syariah Index was up 11.94 points to 11,919.28, with the FBM 70 rising 6.51 points to 13,034.06.

The FBM Ace declined 4.11 points to 4,759.23.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index was 23.1 points higher at 7,727.38, the Finance Index was down 35.63 points to 14,218.24, and the Industrial Index trimmed 0.73 of a point to 3,059.78.

The physical price of gold as at 9.30am stood at RM162.13 per gramme, up 87 sen from RM161.26 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama