KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened lower weighed by the ongoing external market uncertainties.
At 9.13 am, the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was down 12.81 points to 1,590.93 after opening 3.8 points lower at 1,599.94.
Losers outpaced gainers 299 to 72, with 160 counters unchanged, 1,366 untraded and 23 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 229.3 million worth RM138.73 million.
A dealer said while there have been bouts of support on the index-linked stocks, the support has been flimsy while thin market interest amid ongoing external market uncertainties would lessen support and send most stocks lower.
“Domestically, there are also few noteworthy leads to help shore up sentiments.
“Therefore, the weakness on the FBM KLCI is likely to persist that could see the key index breach the 1,600 support to the 1,595 and 1,593 levels. The resistances, meanwhile, are at 1,610 and 1,620 respectively,” he said.
Among heavyweights, Maybank lost nine sen to RM8.90, Public Bank eased four sen to RM22.40, and Petronas Chemicals fell 44 sen to RM8.38.
CIMB added two sen to RM5.16 while TNB was flat at RM11.68.
Of the actively-traded stocks, Barakah lost two sen to five sen, Bumi Armada and Sapura Energy slipped half-a-sen each to 18.5 sen and 30.5 sen respectively, and Velesto Energy declined 2.5 sen to 26 sen.
Vortex added 1.5 sen to 32 sen.
The FBM Emas Index was down 85.09 points to 11,170.22, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 84.2 points to 11,014.42 and the FBM Emas Syariah Index fell 116.78 points to 11,282.35.
The FBM 70 declined 85.87 points to 13,612.56 and the FBM Ace erased 43.67 points to 4,348.54.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index contracted 82.23 points to 16,503.02, the Plantation Index was weaker by 32.5 points at 6,850.07 and the Industrial Products & Services Index was 3.48 points lower at 159.75.
The physical price of gold as at 5pm stood at RM165.90 per gramme, down 11 sen from RM166.01 at 5pm last Tuesday. — Bernama
