KUALA LUMPUR, April 12 — Bursa Malaysia extended yesterday’s losses to open lower today as investor sentiment remained bearish after an overnight fall on Wall Street.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,603.22, down 1.39 from Monday’s close of 1,604.61.
The barometer index opened 0.74 of-a-point easier at 1,603.87.
Market breadth was negative with losers leading gainers 270 to 96, while 216 counters were unchanged, 1,671 untraded and 12 others suspended.
Total turnover stood at 232.23 million worth RM85.87 million.
In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd expects investors to trade in a risk-off mood following the negative sentiment on Wall Street, especially as the sell down in technology stocks triggered by rising bond yields ahead of the US inflation data may spillover on local technology stocks.
“Nevertheless, the daily Covid-19 cases dropped below 10,000 in Malaysia should support economic recovery, thereby benefitting the recovery-themed,” it said.
Commodity-wise, crude palm oil futures (FCPO) rose above RM6,000, while the crude oil price scaled back below the US$100 per barrel mark as investors anticipated a lower demand from China amid Covid-19 lockdowns.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose one sen to RM8.86, Petronas Chemicals added 10 sen to RM10.30, while Public Bank fell one sen to RM4.66, and IHH Healthcare and CIMB were flat at RM6.40 and RM5.33, respectively.
Of the actives, CSH Alliance and Vortex added one sen each to 15 sen and 17.5 sen, respectively, China Ouhua gained half-a-sen to nine sen, ATA IMS was 3.5 sen higher at 47 sen, while VSolar was flat at one sen.
On the index board, FBMT 100 Index lost 21.78 points to 11,121.77, FBM Emas Index was 23.59 points weaker at 11,464.36, and FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 33.75 points to 12,081.43, FBM 70 shed 76.49 points to 13,699.99, and FBM ACE inched down 30.19 points to 5,764.30.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index weakened 0.49 of-a-point to 213.59, the Financial Services Index slipped 3.47 points to 16,752.39, while the Plantation Index rose 23.24 points to 8,498.20. — Bernama
