KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 29 — Bursa Malaysia opened lower today dampened by weak buying sentiment as investors took cue from an easier Wall Street performance, amid declining oil prices, dealers said.

At 9.10 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was down 8.46 points to 1,689.04 from Monday's close of 1,697.50.

The index opened 2.79 points weaker at 1,694.71.

Market breadth was negative as losers led gainers 165 to 70, while 177 counters were unchanged, 1,513 untraded and 102 others suspended.

Turnover was at 245.47 million shares worth RM96.04 million.

A dealer said global stocks started the week on a nervous note after two major US companies, Caterpillar Inc and Nvidia Corp sparked concerns that a Chinese economic slowdown was hurting their results.

Public Investment Bank Bhd said concern on China’s slowing economy also dampened the oil prices, with Brent Crude dipping below the US$60 a barrel mark.

There was also an element of caution in the markets ahead of this week’s US Federal Reserve meeting, it said.

“Participants will be keen to see if the central bank maintains its 'patient' stance on interest rates, but it was the warnings from heavy equipment maker, Caterpillar, and semiconductor group, Nvidia, that dominated the market mood.

“The former said it expected no sales growth in China this year, and only a ‘modest’ increase worldwide. Nvidia, meanwhile, cut its fourth-quarter revenue guidance, citing weak demand in China for its gaming chips,” it said in a note today.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 0.8 per cent to 2,643.85. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also fell 0.8 per cent, while the Nasdaq Composite ended 1.1 per cent lower.

Meanwhile, Maybank IB Research expected the FBM KLCI to range between 1,680 and 1,710 today, with downside support at 1,658 and 1,644.

Among heavyweights, Maybank lost eight sen to RM9.58, Public Bank eased four sen to RM24.78, Tenaga was flat at RM13.58, Petronas Chemicals was down 26 sen to RM8.36 and CIMB fell one sen to RM5.65.

Of the most active, Sapura Energy and Bumi Armada eased gave up half-a-sen to 28 sen and 21 sen respectively, while Eduspec recovered half-a-sen to 2.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Index contracted 49.49 points to 11,704.75, the FBMT 100 Index shed 49.02 points to 11,591.08 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 61.80 points to 11,622.68.

The FBM Ace Index however added 1.73 points to 4,394.82 but the FBM 70 fell 21.39 points to 13,905.61.

Sectorwise, the Financial Services dipped 46.15 points to 17,572.28, the Plantation Index decreased 32.50 points to 7,280.39 and the Industrial Products and Services Index was 1.94 points lower at 161.11. — Bernama