KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia retreated to opened slightly lower as traders locked in profits, ahead of today’s release of the first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data.
At 9.10am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 1.96 points to 1,609.47.
The index opened at 1,609.22, 2.21 points weaker from yesterday 1,611.43.
Gainers beat losers 138 to 105, with 159 counters unchanged, 1,509 untraded and 23 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 182.68 million shares worth RM129.95 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said profit taking has been seen sets in since yesterday.
Hence, it expects increased profit taking activities today will curtail the potential near term upsides.
“As it is, the market’s undertone is still cautious, undermined by the US-China trade spat, but overnight gains in most major global equities indices could provide some near term calming effect.
“With the trade dispute far from finding a resolution, coming after the US banned China’s telecommunication equipment in the country yesterday, the global equity market is still on tenterhooks with market conditions easily going pear shape again if the issue flares up,“ it added.
Over the near term, it sees the key index will remain above the 1,600 points support level with mild upsides possibly helping the key index to retest the 1,620 level and intermediate support seen at 1,610 points.
“The lower liners and broader market shares are also posting mild recoveries and this trend is set to continue as retail players take advantage of the calmer market conditions to undertake trading activities,“ it added.
Among heavyweights, Maybank increased one sen to RM9.02, Public Bank added four sen to RM22.52, while Petronas Chemicals was three sen lower at RM8.82 and Tenaga dropped four sen to RM11.74.
Topping the actively-traded stocks, newly-listed today, Leong Hup International gained five sen to RM1.15 with 77.2 million shares changed hands.
With initial public offering (IPO) value of RM1.2 billion, the listing of the poultry producer was the biggest in Malaysia for this year.
Meanwhile, Vortex added two sen to 29.5 sen and Hubline rose half-a-sen to six sen.
The FBM Emas Index dropped 10.21 points to 11,342.96, the FBMT 100 Index declined 13.15 points to 11,173.74 and the FBM Emas Syariah Index went down 19.11 points to 11,506.61.
The FBM 70 depreciated 9.64 points to 13,940.50 but the FBM Ace rose 5.32 points to 4,453.81.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index was 0.55 of-a-point lower at 16,578.24, the Plantation Index weaker by 11.92 points to 6,920.67 and the Industrial Products & Services Index was 0.18 of-a-point down at 164.33.
The physical price of gold as at 9.30am stood at RM168.11 per gramme, down 51 sen from RM168.62 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama
