KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia gave up last week’s uptrend to open easier this morning as fresh cautious sentiment surrounding the ongoing US-China trade spat emerged and curbed investors’ risk appetite, dealers said.
At 9.09am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 0.34 point to 1,594.41 from the 1,594.75 recorded at Friday’s close.
At the opening bell, the barometer index inched up 1.66 points to 1,593.09.
Petronas Chemicals, which recently posted a lower net profit in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2019, dragged the composite index down by 1.98 points after losing 14 sen to RM7.30 with 174,100 shares changing hands.
On the broader market, gainers however outnumbered losers 172 to 92, with 227 counters unchanged, 1,508 untraded and 17 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 194.73 million shares worth RM72.48 million.
In its note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said conditions on Bursa Malaysia were still essentially mixed with the index heavyweights seeing support, while the lower liners and broader market shares were consolidating amid their toppish conditions.
“That being said, there could still be renewed interest in Bursa Malaysia stocks after global stocks rallied last Friday on optimism over an initial trade deal between the US and China.
“We think that the positivity in global equities will permeate to Malaysian stocks at the start of the week as the key index stocks play catch up to the overseas gains, and this could provide some fresh impetus for it to re-challenge the 1,600 resistance level,” the research firm said.
Malacca Securities has placed the 1,600 level as the major resistance for now as it expects selling into strength activities to provide a lid on the upside potential over the near term.
The other resistance is at the 1,610 level, while the supports are pegged at the 1,590 and 1,580 levels, it said.
“We also think that the lower liners and broader market shares could mount further gains on the improved market undertone that could instigate bouts of fresh buying interest.
“However, we also think that the upsides will be accompanied by bouts of quick profit-taking activities that could also limit their upsides,” it added.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank rose one sen to RM8.67, while both CIMB and IHH were flat at RM5.22 and RM5.35.
Tenaga eased two sen to RM13.66 and Public Bank lost four sen to RM19.86.
Of the actives, Sapura Energy, Bumi Armada, Netx, JAG and XOX were all unchanged at 30 sen, 52.5 sen, two sen, 3.5 sen and 4.5 sen, while WCE added 2.5 sen to 41 sen.
The FBM Emas Index improved 2.79 points to 11,316.56, the FBMT 100 Index increased 1.99 points to 11,127.8 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index perked 4.63 points to 11,840.58.
The FBM Ace was 4.11 points higher at 4,924.18 and the FBM 70 gained 20.34 points to 14,115.82.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index erased 10.04 points to 15,601.69, the Industrial Products & Services Index slipped 0.84 point to 152.54, but the Plantation Index bagged 19.12 points to 6,947.66.
The physical price of gold as at 9.30am stood at RM189.41 per gramme, down two sen from RM189.39 at 5pm last Friday. — Bernama
