Bursa Malaysia opens easier amid profit-taking

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia extended yesterday’s downtrend to opened easier amid profit-taking in selected stocks and subdued risk appetite following a flat performance on Wall Street last night.

As at 9.11 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI eased 2.42 points to 1,578.18 from Tuesday’s close of 1,580.6.

The index opened 0.66 of-a-point weaker at 1,579.94.

There were 142 gainers and 121 losers while 222 counters remained unchanged, 1,482 untraded and 18 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 235.43 million shares worth RM61.31 mil.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd in a note said there was no reprieve for Malaysian stocks as they continue to endure substantive selling and profit-taking activities amid the market undertone that remains on the wary side.

As it is, investors would continue to monitor the trade agreement between the US and China, it said.

The research house believed the key index might remain downbeat following the recent developments over Sino-US trade progress.

“The weakness may pressure the local bourse towards the 1,575 level, with the next support pegged at the 1,550 level.

“Any gains, however, is expected to be relatively mild due to the lack of fresh leads that may shore the local bourse towards the 1,590 resistance level,” it said.

Of heavyweights, Tenaga fell 10 sen to RM12.80, Petronas Chemicals slipped two sen to RM7.07 and IHH lost five sen to RM5.52.

Public Bank gained four sen to RM19.18, CIMB added two sen to RM5.20, while Maybank was flat at RM8.65.

Among actives, TH Heavy rose 12.5 sen to 2.5 sen, London Biscuit eased two sen to 1.5 sen while Vortex slid 14.5 sen to half-a-sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 16.08 points to 11,267.12, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 33.74 points to 11,892.42, the FBMT 100 Index declined 13.85 points to 11,058.57 and the FBM 70 shed 5.09 points to 14,209.26.

However, the FBM Ace increased 40.6 points to 5,591.05.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.03 of a point to 152.51, the Financial Services Index gained 15.89 points to 15,394.89 but the Plantation Index was down 39.72 points to 7,562.6. – Jan 15, 2020 Bernama

 

 

 

 

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