KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened lower in tandem with other global equity markets as geopolitical tension between Teheran and Washington soared following the killing of an Iranian general in Baghdad, Iraq last week.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd in a note today (Jan 6) said this will cause a pullback from a strong two-day start of the year.
At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 7.17 points to 1,604.21 from the Jan 3 close of 1,611.38.
On the scoreboard, losers outpaced gainers 200 to 125, while 234 counters remained unchanged, 1,387 were untraded and 23 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 187.94 million shares worth RM80.59 mil.
In its note, Malacca Securities said with the rising tension between the two military powerhouses, the upside bias for the local indices will become increasingly difficult to attain.
“The support level remains pegged at 1,590 but the resistance level is now between 1,618 and 1,623,” it said.
Singapore Straits Times index was 0.41% lower at 3,238.82, Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.71% lower to 3,234.85 Hong Kong Hang Seng was 0.32% lower to 28,451.41 while Japan’s Nikkei was 1.76% lower to 23,240.41.
Among the top 30 companies on the local bourse, Top Glove declined two sen to RM4.65, Tenaga Nasional lost 10 sen to RM13.16, Sime Darby Plantation and Petronas Chemicals shed one sen each to RM5.49 and RM7.45 respectively while Maybank slid five sen to RM8.70.
Of the actives, oil and gas counter Hibiscus Petroleum and its warrant both added 3.5 sen to RM1.03 and 29 sen respectively, Sapura Energy’s warrant added half-a-sen to 13 sen while Alam Maritim added half-a-sen to 15 sen.
As for top losers, IHH declined 11 sen to RM5.51, Digi and Public Bank both shed eight sen to RM4.52 and RM19.88, while Maxis and IJM both lost six sen to RM5.46 and RM2.26 respectively.
The FBM Emas Index decreased 41.28 points to 11,434.22, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 32.63 points lower at 12,071.67.
The FBMT 100 Index weakened 44.11 points to 11,222.81, the FBM 70 slid 31.55 points to 14,345.94 while the FBM Ace accumulated 7.52 points to 5,433.59.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index slid 0.32 point to 155.64, the Financial Services Index improved 66.24 points to 15,619.5016 and the Plantation Index strengthened 10.67 points to 7,820.87. – Jan 6, 2020, Bernama
