KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia opened lower today, mirroring Wall Street’s mixed performance due to uncertainty in economic indicators, with encouraging corporate earnings expected to boost the local exchange later in the day, said a dealer.
At 9.06am, the FBM KLCI reduced 1.24 points to 1,601.67 versus yesterday’s close of 1,602.29.
The barometer index opened 1.63 points better at 1,602.30.
In the broader market, gainers led decliners 219 to 144, while 350 counters were unchanged, 1,632 untraded and nine others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 316.54 million units worth RM127.42 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the market undertone is expected to stay solid as stock accumulation continues. He expects the index to hover between the 1,600 and 1,610 ranges today.
“We also noticed that earnings reported so far have been encouraging and should act as a prelude for more strong earnings ahead,” he said.
Sime Darby topped the heavyweight-gainers, adding four sen to RM2.87, followed by YTL Power, which improved three sen to RM4.95, while TNB was four sen better at RM12.44.
On the other hand, at the highest composite-index weighted counter, Maybank erased three sen to RM9.84, Public Bank was one sen easier at RM4.17, and IHH declined three sen to RM6.28.
As for the actives, MMAG warrant added two sen to 17.5 sen, while its mother share was half-a-sen better at 38 sen.
ACE-market debutante Farm Price was 16 sen better at 40 sen, PA Resources accumulated 2.5 sen at 36 sen and Iconic Worldwide was flat at 11.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM emas index gained 5.36 points to 12,123.66, the FBMT 100 index was 0.43 points better at 11,723.54 and the FBM emas shariah index added 9.12 points to 12,318.08.
The FBM 70 index jumped 34.59 points to 17,076.59, while the FBM ACE index reduced 8.02 points to 5,259.47.
Sector-wise, the financial services index erased 21.56 points to 17,534.08, the industrial products and services index edged up 0.01 of-a-point to 192.67, the plantation index inched up 2.96 points to 7,427.13, and the energy index gained 6.91 points to 984.76. – May 14, 2024