KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 16 — Bursa Malaysia continued its decline to open lower on Friday as cautious sentiments remained significant amid heightened volatility in the global market performance overnight.

At 9.10am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slid 0.53 per cent or 7.82 points to 1,459.31 from yesterday’s closing of 1,467.13.

The market bellwether opened 5.37 points lower at 1,461.76.

On the broader market, decliners thumped advancers 328 versus 80, while 217 counters were unchanged, 1,649 untraded, and 48 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 274.10 million units worth RM102.06 million.

In a note, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said Wall Street fell overnight on fresh recessionary concerns following a decline in retail sales data due to surging inflation.

Back home, it said sentiment on the local bourse was expected to remain cautious today attributed to the widespread weakness in regional markets.

"We expect the index to move between the 1,465 and 1,480 range today as some bargain-hunting activities may emerged especially in construction and telecommunication related stocks,” it said.

Among heavyweights, Maybank and Petronas Chemicals fell four sen to RM8.66 and RM8.42, respectively, Public Bank and TNB eased three sen each to RM4.35 and RM9.18, respectively, while CIMB added one sen to RM5.76.

Of the actives, Avillion and Advance Synergy rose half-a-sen to 8.5 sen and 19.5 sen respectively, while Ta Win, NWP and Borneo Oil all were unchanged at six sen, 20.5 sen and 2.5 sen respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 58.46 points to 10,492.44, the FBMT 100 Index shed 55.93 points to 10,194.98, the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 65.70 points weaker at 10,604.08, the FBM 70 Index shaved off 75.47 points to 12,847.20, and the FBM ACE Index dipped 46.59 points to 5,425.0.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index was 74.17 points lower at 16,461.33, the Plantation Index lost 26.65 points to 6,677.76, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.97 of-a-point to 180.05, and the Energy Index gave up 8.15 points to 786.45. — Bernama