KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia opened lower today, tracking most of its regional peers after a mixed performance overnight on Wall Street as investors digested the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) decision on Wednesday to maintain its key interest rate.
At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slid 1.21 points to 1,574.76 from Tuesday’s close of 1,575.97. The benchmark index opened one point easier at 1,574.97.
On the broader market, decliners led gainers 235 to 124, while 271 counters were unchanged, 1,660 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 130.91 million units worth RM66.88 million.
Bursa Malaysia and its subsidiaries were closed on Wednesday in conjunction with the Labour Day holiday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng noted that the Fed, in a statement on Wednesday, suggested that while a rate cut might be the next step, sustained progress on US inflation remains uncertain.
The Dow Jones rose just 87 points (0.20%) to end just below the 38,000 mark, however, stocks associated with artificial intelligence (AI) faced difficulties, as some of the top AI companies reported disappointing earnings, sending the Nasdaq 52 points lower to settle at 15,605.
Thong noted that trading was muted in the Asian region.
“On the domestic front, the FBM KLCI closed lower on Tuesday due to profit-taking activities. While there was a pullback after the rally, we perceived this correction as a healthy consolidation essential for sustaining the upward trend. As such we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,570 to 1,580 today,” he told Bernama.
Among the heavyweight counters, Maybank gained three sen to RM9.76, Public Bank added two sen to RM4.17, CIMB and Tenaga Nasional shed two sen each to RM6.59 and RM11.94, respectively, while IHH Healthcare was flat at RM6.33.
As for the actives, SNS bagged two sen to 38.5 sen, Eversendai climbed one sen to 39.5 sen while Sapura Energy, Iconic Worldwide and MyEG were flat at 4.5 sen, 10.5 sen and 93.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 11.29 points to 11,860.97, the FBMT 100 Index eased 10.92 points to 11,491.81 and the FBM 70 Index fell 24.44 points to 16,596.81. The FBM ACE Index shed 9.35 points to 5,067.35 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index erased 21.95 points to 12,063.99.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index advanced 24.82 points to 17,238.97 and the Plantation Index added 3.88 points to 7,440.64 while the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.12 of-a-point to 189.02 and the Energy Index gave up 12.19 points to 963.47. – May 2, 2024