KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia opened mixed on the first day of trading week for 2024 despite Wall Street performing lower amid the festive season rally recently, said a dealer.
At 9.06am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was down 2.59 points to 1,452.07 from last Friday’s close of 1,454.66.
On the broader market, however, gainers led decliners 171 to 159 while 269 counters were unchanged, 1,629 untraded, and 22 suspended.
Turnover amounted to 279.98 million units worth RM74.44 million.
Meanwhile, the ringgit opens lower in early trade today but sentiment for the local note remains strong. It had closed the last trading day of 2023 higher by a marginal 0.3%.
At 9am, the ringgit appreciated to 4.5910/5965 against the US dollar from Friday’s close of 4.5900/5980.
The FBM KLCI ended 2023 at just below 1,455. At current levels, market valuation is estimated at around the 14 times range which offers a decent value proposition.
“We reckon flow of foreign funds into the local bourse to persist amid a strengthening ringgit that dipped below the 4.60 mark against the US dollar. For today, we expect the index to hover within the 1,455-1,465 range with banks to remain as the main focus,” said Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank declined 1.0 sen each to RM8.88 and RM4.28, respectively.
CIMB eased 2.0 sen to RM5.83, Tenaga and IHH Healthcare dropped 4.0 sen each to RM10.00 and RM5.99, respectively, and Petronas Chemicals shed 3.0 sen to RM7.13.
Of the actives, Fast Energy rose 6.0 sen to 19 sen, Hong Seng was flat at 2.5 sen, Sarawak Cable increased 5.5 sen to 43 sen, Bioalpha Holdings gained 2.0 sen to 13 sen, and PNE PCB added one sen to 9.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM 70 Index was stronger by 3.85 points to 14,616.84 and the FBM ACE Index went up 19.39 points to 5,341.39.
However, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 13.21 points to 10,472.51, the FBM Emas Shariah Index was weaker by 14.31 points to 10,974.40 and the FBM Emas Index narrowed by 12.65 points to 10,811.05.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.24 of-a-point to 172.75 and the Financial Services Index dropped 7.28 points to 16,295.76.
The Plantation Index slipped 2.01 points to 7,005.95, the Energy Index rose 1.68 points to 819.41 and the Property Index erased 0.83 of-a-point to 861.28. The market was closed on January 1 for the New Year holiday. – January 2, 2024