Bursa: Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Thursday, influenced by upbeat regional sentiment, but mild profit taking in selected heavyweights following a recent rally weighed on the market, as stated by an analyst. At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 2.56 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 1,547.65 from Wednesday’s close of 1,550.21. The benchmark index had initially opened 4.07 points lower at 1,546.14.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, market breadth was negative, with 185 decliners outpacing 135 gainers. A total of 248 counters were unchanged, while 1,820 were untraded and 11 suspended. Turnover stood at 209.16 million shares worth RM115.45 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd noted that buying interest in technology stocks on Wall Street, spurred by the US-Vietnam trade deal, was expected to influence the local market. Sentiment improved in the United States after a bilateral agreement under which Vietnamese goods will face a 20 per cent tariff, while US goods will enter Vietnam at zero per cent duty.
The brokerage mentioned that with renewed optimism surrounding data centre developments, traders might monitor technology and telecommunications counters. On the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) front, solar and renewable energy segments, including Gas Malaysia and BM Greentech, were favoured. Additionally, due to rising inflationary pressures potentially leading to consumer downtrading, defensive names in the consumer sector such as MRDIY were preferred.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and IHH Healthcare rose 2.0 sen each to RM9.78 and RM6.85, respectively. CIMB added 4.0 sen to RM6.82. Tenaga Nasional dropped 44 sen to RM14.16, while Public Bank eased 1.0 sen to RM4.31. In active trade, NEXG and TWL Holdings rose half-a-sen each to 38.5 sen and 3.0 sen, respectively. Techstore climbed 2.5 sen to 20.5 sen, while Pharmaniaga fell 1.0 sen to 14.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shed 6.71 points to 11,575.38, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 8.40 points to 11,352.37, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 22.04 points to 11,577.79. The FBM 70 Index added 33.09 points to 16,644.33, while the FBM ACE Index rose 2.79 points to 4,481.88.
By sector, the Financial Services Index climbed 24.70 points to 17,733.46, the Plantation Index rose 7.43 points to 7,403.39, and the Energy Index was up 1.08 points to 748.25. The Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.31 of-a-point to 154.78.