KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia retreated from its gains yesterday to open lower this morning weighed down by selling activities in the plantation stocks despite positive external developments following the signing of US-China trade deal.
The index opened 3.02 points easier at 1,582.12.
At 10.30 a.m. today, there were 188 gainers, 365 losers and 327 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia.
The FBM-KLCI was at 1,578.63, down 6.51 points, the FBMACE was at 5,529.86, down 30.21 points, and the FBMEmas was at 11,257.65, down 45.52 points.
Turnover was at 881.008 million shares valued at RM410.994 million.
Among plantation stocks, KLK gave up 58 sen for RM24.00, IOI Corporation eased eight sen to RM4.60, PPB Group lost 28 sen to RM18.34, while Sime Darby Plantation slid three sen to RM5.27.
These stocks dragged the composite index down by combined 3.049 points.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd in a note said the trade deal between US and China might shore up the key index to potentially re-testing the 1,590 resistance level as the local bourse might continue to build a base around the 1,600 psychological level.
“In the interim, the 1,565 will serve as the immediate support level, followed by the 1,550 level.
“The lower liners and broader market shares managed to inch higher yesterday. Therefore, the rotational play may linger for the time being, possibly towards the Lunar New Year,” the research house said.
Overnight, the US signed its Phase One trade deal with China which aimed to end a trade spat that has seen tariffs imposed on hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of trade.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank edged down two sen to RM8.58, Public Bank declined eight sen to RM19.48, Tenaga fell 12 sen to RM12.78, both Petronas Chemicals and CIMB slipped one sen each to RM7.02 and RM5.17 respectively, while IHH Healthcare was flat at RM5.55.
Among the actives, Hubline inched down half-a-sen to 3.5 sen, Vortex was flat at 13.5 sen, Yong Tai perked half-a-sen to 15.5 sen while Cuscapi added one sen to 17.5 sen.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 0.25 of a point to 153.16, the Financial Services Index weakened 47.3 points to 15,387.56 and the Plantation Index fell 67.55 points to 7,499.31. -Bernama
