KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia was lower in early trade today, with the composite index retreating from its two-day gains as investors took the cue from the overnight downtrend on Wall Street, dealers said.
At 9.05 am, the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 5.43 points to 1,670.57 from yesterday’s close of 1,676.
The index opened 5.95 points weaker at 1,670.05.
Selling in IHH Healthcare dragged the composite index down by 4.047 points after falling 26 sen to RM5.34 with 100 shares transacted.
There were 84 losers and 79 gainers, while 104 counters were unchanged, 1,635 untraded and 24 others suspended.
Volume stood at 88.94 million units valued at RM26.29 million.
After two consecutive up days, the FBM KLCI is likely to pause ahead of the weekend with domestic sentiment cautious following recent volatility, said Maybank IB Research.
“Technically, we expect the FBM KLCI to range between 1,660 and 1,690 today.
“Downside supports are at 1,658 and 1,650,” the research firm said in a note today.
Among heavyweights, Maybank eased two sen to RM9.42, Public Bank lost 14 sen to RM24.84, Tenaga fell eight sen to RM13.38, while Petronas Chemicals and CIMB shed four sen each to RM9.13 and RM5.80.
Among actives, Vortex inched down half-a-sen to nine sen, while Hubline, Bumi Armada and MyEG were all flat at four sen, 18 sen and 92.5 sen respectively.
The FBM Emas Index erased 31.68 points to 11,476.31, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 27.2 points to 11,376.54, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slid 22.68 points to 11,432.49, and the FBM Ace Index slipped 2.95 points to 4,457.8.
However, the FBM 70 earned 6.52 points to 13,263.88.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 031 point to 167.47, and the Financial Services Index fell 66.36 points to 17,399.42, but the Plantation Index bagged 18.69 points to 6,717.23.
Gold futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives were unchanged this morning on lack of demand.
At 9.35 am, December 2018, January 2019, February 2019 and March 2019 were unchanged at RM167.00, RM167.00, RM167.10 and RM167.20 per gramme respectively.
Volume was nil, while open interest amounted to 26 contracts.
At 9.30 am, the price of physical gold was down 54 sen at RM161.42 per gramme. — Bernama
