KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened lower in early trading today, taking cues from the overnight decline on Wall Street, said analysts.
At 9.10 a.m., the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 3.47 points to 1,514.58 from Wednesday’s close of 1,518.05.
The benchmark index had opened 4.97 points lower at 1,513.08.
Across the broader market, decliners outnumbered gainers 206 to 101, while 235 counters were unchanged, 1,927 were untraded, and 160 were suspended.
Trading volume stood at 117.20 million shares worth RM70.70 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd Vice President of Equity Research, Thong Pak Leng, said Wall Street closed lower overnight as U.S. President Donald Trump was poised to announce new tariffs on automotive imports into the U.S., heightening the global trade tensions he initiated earlier this year.
However, he said most major Asian markets closed higher, supported by gains in oil and gas, technology, and electric vehicle (EV) stocks.
Domestically, Thong noted that the FBM KLCI continued its upward momentum, driven by bargain-hunting in selected heavyweight stocks due to attractive valuations.
“We expect the FBM KLCI to trade within the range of 1,510 to 1,530 today,” he said.
Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank rose 4.0 sen to RM10.22, Tenaga Nasional gained 6.0 sen to RM13.38, IHH Healthcare advanced 9.0 sen to RM6.90, and CIMB Group added 1.0 sen to RM7.05.
Meanwhile, Public Bank slipped 1.0 sen to RM4.46.
Among active stocks, MBSB declined 1.5 sen to 70.5 sen, Nationgate Holdings fell 3.0 sen to RM1.31, while NEXG, Reach Energy, and Ingenieur Gudang were flat at 25.5 sen, 1.5 sen, and 3.0 sen respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dropped 28.43 points to 11,348.89, the FBMT 100 Index shed 26.49 points to 11,107.95, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 44.30 points to 11,079.5, the FBM 70 Index slipped 43.04 points to 16,275.43, and the FBM ACE Index declined 3.33 points to 4,728.50.
By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.50 point to 152.56, the Energy Index fell 2.22 points to 750.52, and the Plantation Index lost 3.74 points to 7,450.51.
Meanwhile, the Financial Services Index rose 6.71 points to 18,488.69.
— BERNAMA
