KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia extended last Friday’s losses to open lower today on lack of market catalysts.
At 9.05 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dipped 3.06 points to 1,568.09 from last Friday’s close of 1,571.15, after opening 2.37 points weaker at 1,568.78.
In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said market conditions were weaker-than-expected last Friday that saw the key index heading south again to leave the market in an indifferent mode.
“The start of the week is unlikely to see much difference in the overall market conditions with the tentativeness still a feature for now,“ it said.
Market breadth was negative as losers edged gainers 131 to 117 with 185 counters unchanged, 1,584 untraded and 15 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 79.80 million shares worth RM35.82 million.
Forecasting today’s market, Malacca Securities expected the market environment to remain mixed with the heavyweights likely to continue seeing the low following.
“The lower liners and broader market shares could continue to see firm following at the start of the week, as the rotational interest are still firm that could continue to draw retail participation.
“However, we also think that there will be continued quick profit-taking activities that may cap the near term upsides,“ it said.
It expected the key index to be potentially trapped between the narrow range of 1,568 and 1,577 levels, where it lingered over the past few sessions, while support and resistance levels are at 1,562 and 1,580 respectively.
Among heavyweights, Maybank added two sen at RM8.52, Tenaga slipped four sen to RM13.76, Public Bank eased two sen to RM19.26, while Petronas Chemicals and IHH were three sen lower each at RM7.35 and RM5.64, respectively.
Of the most actives, MTAG bagged one sen to 52 sen, IFCA MSC gained 1.5 sen to 37.5 sen, NetX slid half-a-sen to two sen, while Green Packet-WB and Widad-WA were each flat at 32.5 sen and 10 sen, respectively.
The FBM 70 retreated 37.69 points to 14,084.07, the FBMT 100 Index shed 23.28 points to 10,981.52 but the FBM Ace advanced 24.28 points to 4,807.52.
The FBM Emas Index erased 21.34 points to 11,168.40, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 24.18 points to 11,777.05.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gave up 29.02 points to 15,245.61, the Plantation Index eased 3.79 points to 6,620.94 and the Industrial Products & Services Index was 0.30 of a point easier at 152.26.
The physical price of gold as at 9.30am stood at RM193.80 per gramme, up 18 sen from RM193.62 at 5.00pm last friday. — Bernama
