Kuala Lampur:Bursa Malaysia opened lower as investors took profits in selected heavyweights, reducing recent gains amidst ongoing US-Iran talks.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, early market performance mirrored a mixed trend on Wall Street, where the Nasdaq reached an intraday high, driven primarily by interest in technology stocks.
At 9.10 am, the benchmark index decreased by 5.98 points or 0.35% to 1,677.52 from Tuesday's close of 1,683.50, having opened 1.31 points lower at 1,682.19. Market breadth showed a near balance, with 186 losers against 174 gainers, while 306 counters remained unchanged, 2,205 were untraded, and 27 were suspended. The turnover was recorded at 227.52 million shares worth RM119.54 million.
In international developments, US President Donald Trump expressed optimism about the progress in talks with Iran, suggesting potential for a deal while cautioning about possible US military action against Iranian nuclear sites if necessary. Trump noted increased oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz since the onset of the conflict and hoped for a resolution by the US midterm elections in November or sooner. These remarks were made during a meeting with Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Turkiye at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's vice-president of Equity Research, Thong Pak Leng, commented that the ongoing US-Iran talks had affected crude oil prices, which provided some relief to market sentiment. At the time of writing, Brent crude oil had decreased by 0.08% to US$99.17 per barrel. Domestically, Thong noted that the FBM KLCI continued its rebound above the 1,680 level, fueled by broad-based bargain-hunting despite a 25-basis-point interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan. He anticipated that buying interest would persist, supported by Brent crude oil prices around US$98 per barrel, with the index likely to hover between the 1,680-1,700 range.
In terms of individual stocks, Maybank rose 10 sen to RM10.22; Public Bank and IHH Healthcare each fell by one sen to RM4.83 and RM7.99 respectively; CIMB dropped eight sen to RM7.82; and Tenaga Nasional increased by six sen to RM13.16. Among the top actives, Zetrix AI and Kinergy Advancement both declined by half a sen to 20 sen and 40 sen respectively, Aimax gained half a sen to 1.5 sen, Capital A remained steady at 27 sen, and Sunway Healthcare decreased by seven sen to RM2.10.
Notable gainers included KESM Industries, up 26 sen to RM4.27; MISC, up 13 sen to RM8.08; Petronas Gas, up 12 sen to RM17.40; Samaiden, up seven sen to RM2.41; and Solarvest, up six sen to RM3.76. Top losers comprised United Plantations, down 24 sen to RM33.30; Hengyuan Refining, down 12 sen to RM4.18; and UWC, Vitrox, and Petron, each down eight sen to RM6.58, RM9.92, and RM3.82 respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Mid 70 Index fell 29.90 points to 17,814.51, the FBM Emas Index dropped 35.98 points to 12,478.15, the FBM Top 100 Index declined 37.78 points to 12,270.10, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased by 1.01 points to 12,327.39, and the FBM ACE Index rose 10.21 points to 5,379.32. Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index decreased by 0.30 points to 184.60, the Energy Index fell by 2.74 points to 841.91, the Financial Services Index dropped 152.34 points to 19,582.34, and the Plantation Index decreased by 2.85 points to 9,453.16.