KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia extended yesterday’s losses to open lower today, dampened by continued profit-taking activities in most of the heavyweights, in line with the downtrend in regional markets, dealers said.
At 9.40 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 6.84 points to 1,555.43 from Tuesday’s close of 1,562.27.
At the opening bell, the barometer index was 8.28 points lower at 1,553.99.
On the broader market, there were 250 losers and 166 gainers, while 280 counters were unchanged, 1,273 untraded and 17 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 429.94 million shares worth RM189.68 million.
In a research note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the broad market outlook remains frail after yesterday’s reversal that is placing a fresh strain on the near term outlook.
“We had earlier hoped for a follow-through buying yesterday, but renewed selling pressure again placed a dampener on sentiments to sustain the dour trend.
“Under the prevailing environment, we see further near term weakness among Malaysian equities as the selling is still prevalent, particularly as global equities are also enduring a choppy ride on concerns that a U.S-China trade agreement may not materialise anytime soon,” it said.
Back home, the research firm said the recently concluded results reporting season still indicates mixed earnings performances that are also providing few noteworthy leads for the market to follow.
“In the interim, the support has now moved to the 1,560 level, followed by the 1,550 level. The resistances, meanwhile, are at 1,570 and 1,575 points respectively,” it added.
Among heavyweights, Maybank fell one sen to RM8.50, TNB declined two sen to RM13, Petronas Chemicals dipped six sen to RM6.98, CIMB shed seven sen to RM5.08 while Public Bank was flat at RM19.46.
Of actives, Alam Maritim and Sapura energy eased half-a-sen each to 13 sen and 27 sen, respectively, Mudajaya went up 2.5 sen to 37 sen while Ekovest added one sen to 80.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index dipped 50.73 points to 11,556.86, the FBM Emas Index contracted 41.03 points to 11,037.33, the FBM 70 reduced 8.88 points to 13,758.16, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 38.10 points to 10,853.42 and the FBM Ace gave up 1.73 points to 4,760.62.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index slipped 13.10 points to 7,119.73, the Financial Services Index edged down 24.85 points to 15,207.97 and the Industrial Products & Services Index inched down 0.66 of-a-point to 148.74. -Bernama
