BURSA Malaysia opened lower today as overnight losses on Wall Street hampered market sentiment.
At 9.05am today, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 1.82 points to 1,237.19 from yesterday’s close of 1,239.01, after opening 11.30 points easier at 1,227.71 this morning.
On the broader market, losers edged gainers 234 to 108, with 131 counters unchanged, 1,544 untraded and 16 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 142.10 million shares worth RM61.70 mil.
In a note, PublicInvest Research said US stocks ended sharply lower yesterday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average finishing below the psychologically important 20,000 level for the first time since February 2017 as investors continued to dump equities and other assets on worries over the economic impact of the global Covid-19 pandemic.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped around 6.3% to end near 19,899 while the S&P 500 ended down 5.2% to 2,398 and the Nasdaq Composite finished 4.7% lower to 6,990.
Elsewhere in the region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 4.2% to 22,291.82, its lowest close since January 2017, China’s main Shanghai Composite index closed down 1.83% at 2,728.76, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 1.7 per cent lower to 16,726.55 and South Korea’s Kospi fell 4.86% to 1,591.20.
The research house said the FBM KLCI is anticipated to trend sideways in the near term, hovering between 1250 and 1190 marks to accommodate the potentially persistent selling pressure.
“Nevertheless, selling pressure is expected to be less intense moving forward, at least in the near future. Support levels for the index are at 875, 1,060 and 1,190, while the resistance levels are at 1,250, 1,310 and 1,360,” it added.
Among the heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank lost seven sen to RM7.19, Tenaga declined eight sen to RM11.34, Public Bank added two sen to RM13.04 and IHH eased three sen to RM4.77.
Of the actives, Sapura Energy and Pansar were both flat at 7.5 sen and 62 sen, respectively, while Perak Transit was half-a-sen higher at 14 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lost 8.26 points to 8,465.98, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 2.28 points to 9,270.00 and the FBM 70 fell 123.13 points to 9,594.85.
The FBMT 100 Index was 32.60 points lower at 8,382.21 and the FBM Ace was 15.03 points better at 3,444.44.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 1.52 points to 96.69, the Plantation Index surged 103.01 points to 5,693.36 and the Financial Services Index added 3.57 points to 11,353.06. – March 19, 2020, Bernama
