At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slid 20.26 points to 1,590.78 from the Jan 7 close of 1,611.04.
On the scoreboard, losers thumped gainers 354 to 79, while 155 counters remained unchanged, 1,349 were not traded and 13 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 271.02 million shares worth RM104.69 mil.
An analyst said Bursa opened red almost across the board due to the spiking geopolitical tension in the oil-rich region.
Oil prices, she said, are expected to surge further, while global indices are bracing for deep contraction.
“The local bourse is also expected to move in line with global indices tracking the performance of Wall Street,” she said.
On the global market, Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 119.70 points to 28,5873.68, Japan’s Nikkei declined 558.82 points to 23,016.90, while South Korea’s KOPSI was 25.09 points lower at 2,150.45.
As at 9.15am, Brent crude prices jumped 2.60% to US$70.87 per barrel.
Earlier today (Jan 8), Pentagon was reported saying that Iran had launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles at two Iraqi bases that hold US troops in what appears to be a retaliatory act for the American drone attack which that killed a top Iranian commander, General Qassem Soleimani last week.
The missiles attack allegedly launched from within Iran’s territory was carried out hours after the funeral of Qassem.
Pentagon said it was now assessing the extent of the damage caused by the attack, including the number of casualties.
All the 30 counters on the FBM KLCI were red. Tenaga Nasional dipped 14 sen to RM12.90, Petronas Chemicals declined 15 sen to RM7.42, Kuala Lumpur Kepong shed 26 sen to RM24.68, Maybank slid four sen to RM8.61 and Hong Leong Financial declined 52 sen to RM16.92.
As for top losers, Nestle declined RM1.70 to RM145.80, PPB dipped 48 sen to RM18.80, and Public Bank down 30 sen to RM19.82.
Of actives, TDM declined two sen to 27 sen, Rimbunan Sawit was down 2.5 sen to 39.5 sen and JYC slipped two sen to 30.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index was down 122.69 points to 11,335.25 and FBM Emas Shariah Index was 137.25 points lower at 11,950.79.
The FBMT 100 Index weakened 121.47 points to 11,130.85, the FBM 70 slid 72.31 points to 14,236.45 while the FBM Ace erased 48.34 points to 5,406.10.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index lost 1.79 points to 154.61,0 the Financial Services Index was down 157.75 points to 15,555.60 and the Plantation Index fell 68.99 points to 7,688.54. – Jan 8, 2020, Bernama
