KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened lower today on profit-taking after the key index ended at an intra-day high on Christmas Eve.
The local bourse was also tracking the downtrend in the US stock market, which suffered sharp losses on the day before Christmas.
At 9.06am, the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 12.26 points to 1,671.56 from Monday’s close of 1,683.82.
The index opened 15.13 points lower at 1,668.69.
Market breadth was bearish with 245 losers against 39 gainers, while 110 counters were unchanged, 1,491 untraded and 35 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 101.98 million shares worth RM37.18 million.
Among heavyweights, Maybank lost three sen to RM9.23, Public Bank declined 14 sen to RM24.64, Tenaga fell 22 sen to RM13.78, Petronas Chemicals dropped eight sen to RM9.15 and CIMB went down two sen to RM5.66.
Tenaga and Public Bank were also among the top losers on Bursa Malaysia at the opening bell.
Of actives, Hubline, Sapura Energy and Vicocom were flat at four sen, 31.5 sen and two sen respectively, Red Sena inched up half-a-sen to 49.5 sen while Hibiscus was 1.5 sen easier at 78.5 sen.
Hong Leong Bank was the top loser, giving up 24 sen to RM20.04, while Gopeng, the top gainer, gained 10 sen to 65 sen.
The FBM Emas Index erased 80.09 points to 11,378.16, the FBMT 100 Index weakened 77.78 points to 11,297.39, the FBM 70 slipped 67.02 points to 12,834.89 and the FBM Ace Index was 37.63 points lower at 4,188.96.
The FBM Emas Syariah Index dipped 100.20 points to 11,359.18.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index slumped 76.89 points to 17,071.18, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.83 point to 164.96 and the Plantation Index slid 36.02 points to 6,745.21.
The physical price of gold as at 9.30am stood at RM164.84 per gramme, up 44 sen from RM164.40 at 5pm Monday. — Bernama
