Kuala Lumpur: Bursa Malaysia opened slightly lower today due to mild selling activities, primarily among lower liners, despite the higher overnight performance of Wall Street.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped marginally by 0.03 of-a-point to 1,519.96 at 9.05 am, down from Monday’s close of 1,519.99. The benchmark index had initially opened 1.17 points lower at 1,518.82. However, market breadth remained positive with 142 gainers surpassing 97 decliners. Meanwhile, 246 counters were unchanged, 1,931 were not traded, and 22 were suspended. The turnover was recorded at 78.56 million shares valued at RM43.88 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd’s equity research vice-president, Thong Pak Leng, noted that Wall Street’s closure on a higher note was influenced by reports concerning Iran’s efforts to resolve its conflict with Israel, which improved market sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.8 percent, the S and P 500 rose nearly one percent, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.5 percent.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index also closed higher, fueled by unexpectedly strong economic data from China. Domestically, the FBM KLCI ended higher on Monday due to late buying interest in plantation and telecommunications stocks, as per Thong. Despite the easing tensions in the Middle East, he expressed caution, noting that peace negotiations had not yet reached a definitive conclusion. Thong anticipated that the benchmark index would fluctuate between the 1,515 and 1,525 levels throughout the day.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank added 2.0 sen to RM9.61, while Tenaga decreased by 6.0 sen to RM14.30. Public Bank and CIMB each gained 1.0 sen, closing at RM4.24 and RM6.76, respectively, and IHH Healthcare fell by 1.0 sen to RM6.90. In terms of the most active stocks, Mpire Global and Jiankun held steady at 11.5 sen and 3.0 sen, respectively. Nationgate Holdings increased by 2.0 sen to RM1.47, Ekovest rose by half-a-sen to 36.5 sen, Bumi Armada slid 1.0 sen to 47.5 sen, and Ucrest improved by half-a-sen to 9.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 6.33 points to 11,367.12, and the FBMT 100 Index went up by 5.85 points to 11,144.20. Conversely, the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased by 4.82 points to 11,368.84. The FBM 70 Index saw a gain of 32.65 points, reaching 16,316.11, while the FBM ACE Index weakened by 2.82 points to 4,468.99. In sectoral performance, the Plantation Index trimmed 17.74 points to 7,332.53, and the Energy Index fell by 8.96 points to 743.20. Meanwhile, the Financial Services Index increased by 22.10 points to 17,523.10, and the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up slightly by 0.05 of-a-point to 151.18.