KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 — Bursa Malaysia opened lower this morning, with the key index falling 0.26 per cent due to profit-taking after Friday’s strong performance.

At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 4.29 points to 1,597.68 from Friday’s close of 1,601.97.

The barometer index opened 2.59 of-a-point easier at 1,599.38.

On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 478 versus 94, while 162 counters were unchanged, 1,569 untraded and 25 others suspended.

Total turnover stood at 216.26 million worth RM123.98 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd expects the overnight tumble on Wall Street to weigh on local sentiment, especially within the technology sector as the Nasdaq fell below the key 13,000 level.

It said Wall Street took another beating as the Dow Jones Index (which fell 2.8 per cent) sank on disappointing corporate earnings, coupled with the prospects of more aggressive interest rate hikes.

"Meanwhile, we expect Indonesia’s ban on palm oil exports to ease domestic shortages of cooking oil may boost the sentiment for crude palm oil futures (FCPO); with the FCPO traded above RM6,300 on Friday. On Brent crude oil, it is hovering above the psychological level of US$105,” the firm said in a note.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank lost three sen to RM8.91, Public Bank slid two sen to RM4.70, Petronas Chemicals fell six sen to RM10.24, Press Metal decreased 11 sen to RM6.32, while IHH Healthcare rose four sen to RM6.65.

Of the actives, SMTrack slipped half-a-sen to eight sen, Dagang Nexchange dropped three sen to RM1.02, MLabs Systems and Vortex were flat at three sen and 18.5 sen, respectively, while Jaya Tiasa increased eight sen to RM1.20.

On the index board, FBMT 100 Index dropped 42.62 points to 11,085.37, FBM Emas Index was 46.02 points lower at 11,438.03, FBM Emas Shariah Index shrank 43.05 points to 12,046.15, FBM 70 edged down 105.16 points to 13,663.43, and FBM ACE slumped 52.35 points to 5,673.01.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 2.24 points to 212.51 and the Financial Services Index narrowed 68.51 points to 16,779.69, while the Plantation Index accumulated 214.89 points to 8,812.76. — Bernama