KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8 — Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Wednesday with continuous profit-taking activities among selected index heavyweights amid the mixed opening in regional bourses, a dealer said.

At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 4.43 points to 1,458.94 from Tuesday’s close of 1,463.37. The index opened 2.24 points easier at 1,461.13.

The broader market was also negative with decliners leading gainers 176 to 144, while 248 counters were unchanged, 1,796 untraded and 10 suspended.

Turnover stood at 245.67 million units worth RM101.15 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said Wall Street ended another session higher, supported by gains in mega-cap corporations after the US 10-year Treasury yield eased following comments from several Federal Reserve officials, suggesting that the central bank might be near the end of the tightening cycle.

Given the earnings releases from the US corporates are still good, investors could have brushed the earnings recession narrative aside.

"Still, we expect buying interest to spill over towards stocks on the local front, specifically in the technology sector. We are still optimistic with the trading tone ahead of the reporting season, favouring the construction, property, building material, utilities and consumer sectors,” the brokerage said in a note.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank lost three sen to RM9.12, Public Bank and CelcomDigi fell one sen each to RM4.23 and RM4.30, respectively, while Petronas Chemicals and IHH Healthcare were flat at RM7.28 and RM6.05, respectively.

Of the actives, TWL and Top Glove added half-a-sen each to 3.5 sen and 78.5 sen, respectively. Ageson and KNM were half-a-sen weaker at 6.5 sen and 9.5 sen, respectively, while Kinergy was flat at 33 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slid 17.50 points to 10,784.58, the FBMT 100 Index dropped 18.80 points to 10,449.91, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index erased 4.51 points to 10,993.60.

The FBM 70 Index rose 30.42 points to 14,283.75, and the FBM ACE Index went up 19.64 points to 5,117.17.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index gave up 0.25 of-a-point to 172.60, the Plantation Index lost 11.02 points to 6,946.84, the Energy Index edged down 2.74 points to 868.14, and the Financial Services Index reduced 47.0 points to 16,412.83. — Bernama