KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia extended its downtrend to open lower on Tuesday in cautious mode, tracking Wall Street’s weaker overnight performance due to a major sell-off in the technology sector, an analyst said.
At 9.08am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 12.36 points to 1,546.61 compared to yesterday’s close of 1,558.97.
The benchmark index was 1.53 points lower at 1,557.44 during the opening bell.
Market breadth was negative, with 325 decliners outpacing 71 gainers, while 187 counters were unchanged, 1,716 untraded, and 37 suspended.
Turnover stood at 167.0 million shares worth RM127.36 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd head of research Kenny Yee said Nasdaq, with its high valuations, namely Nvidia, bore the brunt of the sell-down following the emergence of China’s new artificial intelligence(AI) platform, DeepSeek.
On the home front, he noted that the situation was less rosy when the local bourse slid to close below the 1,560 level yesterday due to significant foreign outflows, possibly ahead of the long break for the Chinese New Year celebrations.
“Notwithstanding this, we believe bargain hunting should start anytime soon in view of the cheap market valuations currently at 14.5 times.
“Thus, we expect the index to trend between the 1,550 and 1,560 range today,” he told Bernama.
Among heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank dropped two sen to RM10.34 and RM4.36, respectively. CIMB was flat at RM8.03, IHH Healthcare lost 14 sen to RM7.09, and Tenaga Nasional eased 18 sen to RM13.26.
For actives, YTL Power shaved 22 sen to RM3, Nationgate trimmed 15 sen to RM1.73, Advance Synergy fell half-a-sen to nine sen, YTL Corp was down eight sen to RM1.85 and PA Resources decreased one sen to 24.5 sen.
On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index declined 100.75 points to 11,796.59, the FBMT 100 Index lost 106.75 points to 11,489.52, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 130.83 points to 11,598.96.
The FBM ACE Index dropped 22.90 points to 5,094.51, while the FBM 70 Index slid 217.72 points to 17,419.54.
By sector, the Financial Services Index dipped 35.55 points to 18,894.01, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.55 points to 163.91, the Plantation Index lost 25.60 points to 7,287.94, and the Energy Index shed 9.38 points to 814.92. – January 28, 2025