KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 ― The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) opened marginally higher today but turned lower afterwards amid cautious mode, despite Wall Street’s strong performance overnight, a trader said.

At 9.10am, the FBM KLCI fell 0.69 of-a-point to 1,456.23 from yesterday’s closing of 1,456.92. The index opened 1.21 points higher at 1,458.13.

The market breadth was positive, with gainers leading decliners 206 to 120, while 271 counters were unchanged, 1,777 untraded and nine others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 207.85 million units valued at RM79.09 million.

Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed sharply higher as investors' sentiment was fuelled by the cooling inflation data that saw declining bond yields.

Meanwhile, on the home front, he said the market will focus on the corporate earning reports, especially from the financial sector, which may provide support in the near term.

"We are confident that earnings, especially from banks, are expected to remain solid for 2023, and this may entice buyers back,” he told Bernama, adding that the key index is expected to hover within the 1,455-1,465 range today.

Among the heavyweight counters, Maybank and Public Bank stayed flat at RM9.11 and RM4.21, respectively. CIMB lost four sen to RM5.73 and Tenaga Nasional gave up two sen to RM9.95, while Petronas Chemicals gained two sen to RM7.22.

Of the actives, Hong Seng rose half-a-sen to 3.5 sen, Leform lost half-a-sen to 28.5 sen, Ageson was flat at 7.5 sen, Muhibbah added 7.5 sen to 77.5 sen, and MYEG rose 1.5 sen to 82 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 5.59 points to 10,795.71, the FBMT 100 Index added 4.42 points to 10,453.72, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index appreciated 13.71 points to 11,015.52.

The FBM ACE Index went up 2.20 points to 5,197.45, and the FBM 70 Index expanded 47.0 points to 14,390.43.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slid 13.83 points to 16,345.44, the Energy Index edged down 0.5 of-a-point to 860.01, while the Plantation Index was 8.99 points higher at 6,994.99 and the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 0.38 of-a-point to 173.96. ― Bernama