Kuala Lumpur:Bursa Malaysia's key index opened lower on Tuesday following the Deepavali holiday, despite positive sentiment from Wall Street.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) decreased by 10.70 points to 1,605.88 at 9.15 am, compared to last Friday's closing of 1,616.58. The index initially opened higher by 9.97 points at 1,626.55. Despite the drop in the key index, market breadth was positive, with 299 gainers surpassing 223 losers, while 322 counters remained unchanged, 1,929 untraded, and 12 suspended. The turnover was recorded at 303.96 million units valued at RM220.76 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, pointed out that Wall Street concluded on a solid note, buoyed by declining crude oil prices and increased optimism regarding a possible resolution to the US-Iran conflict. However, he noted that market sentiment remains cautious, with investors waiting for clearer short-term directions. "We expect the index to remain stuck in a consolidation mode of between 1,610 and 1,625 today," he told Bernama.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank remained unchanged at RM10.12, while Public Bank decreased by 15 sen to RM4.75. CIMB fell one sen to RM7.05, Tenaga Nasional dropped eight sen to RM12.96, and IHH Healthcare increased by one sen to RM7.71. In active trading, Zetrix AI fell by half-a-sen to six sen, with Ni Hsin Group slipping four sen to 14 sen. VS Industry and Dagang Nexchange both rose by half-a-sen to 30 sen and 39 sen, respectively, while AirAsia Group saw a four sen increase to 52.5 sen.
In terms of gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries rose by 78 sen to RM36.98, Nestle increased by 66 sen to RM94.02, Sunway Construction Group added 36 sen to RM8.22, with Vitrox Corp and UWC both gaining 24 sen to RM10.36 and RM6.53, respectively. Among the top losers, Mega Fortris decreased by 30 sen to RM1.10, with YTL Power and Hengyuan Refining both losing 22 sen to RM4.79 and RM2.70. Hong Leong Industries fell by 12 sen to RM16.52.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell by 40.97 points to 11,924.50, and the FBM Top 100 Index dropped by 46.13 points to 11,752.32. The FBM Emas Shariah Index also decreased by 40.97 points to 11,924.50, while the FBM ACE Index gained 28.99 points to 5,269.23, and the FBM Mid 70 Index climbed 67.93 points to 17,088.81. Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down by 0.32 points to 171.03, the Energy Index fell by 8.12 points to 786.74, the Financial Services Index slipped 134.20 points to 18,822.86, and the Plantation Index slumped 2.85 points to 8,723.51.