Bursa malaysia: Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Friday but soon retreated, with profit-taking seen in industrial products and construction counters, despite Wall Street's ending higher overnight. At 9.06 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased by 3.05 points to 1,731.66 from Thursday's close of 1,734.71. The benchmark index opened 0.01 of-a-point higher at 1,734.72.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, market breadth was positive, with gainers outpacing losers 166 to 139, while 289 counters were unchanged, 2,234 untraded, and 28 suspended. Turnover stood at 192.50 million shares valued at RM68.46 million. In a note today, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd commented that Wall Street closed broadly higher, with sentiment buoyed by the cooler-than-expected producer price index (PPI). This development is expected to influence the US Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates at its next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in September.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank saw a decrease of two sen to RM10.58, while Public Bank, CIMB Group, Tenaga Nasional, and IHH Healthcare remained flat at RM5.16, RM7.95, RM14.50, and RM8.27, respectively. On the most active list, HHRG decreased by 2.5 sen to 13 sen, whereas Scope Industries increased by one sen to nine sen. Nexgram Holdings, TWL Holdings, and Key ASIC rose by half a sen each to 6.5 sen, 2.5 sen, and 8.5 sen, respectively.

Among top gainers, UMS Integration rose 58 sen to RM9.03, Vitrox Corporation gained 15 sen to RM9.55, LPI Capital added 14 sen to RM15.22, Hong Leong Bank gained 12 sen to RM22.46, and UWC increased by eight sen to RM6.63. As for the top losers, Petronas Chemicals Group lost 10 sen to RM4.45, Press Metal Aluminium Holdings reduced six sen to RM7.92, Gamuda and Timberwell dropped five sen each to RM4.47 and RM1.85, respectively, and Sunway declined four sen to RM5.16.

Among the broader indices, the FBM ACE Index advanced 14.93 points to 5,259.58, and the FBM 70 Index increased by 3.27 points to 18,333.49. The FBM Emas Index depreciated 14.14 points to 12,844.40, the FBMT 100 Index slid 16.10 points to 12,656.60, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 21.36 points to 12,673.62. By sector, the Energy Index was 3.92 points lower at 779.40, the Financial Services Index gave up 0.38 of-a-point to 20,356.63, and the Plantation Index slipped 20.21 points to 9,353.45, while the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.55 points to 188.93.