KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 — Bursa Malaysia reversed yesterday’s gains to open lower on profit-taking, drawing the cue from choppy trading on Wall Street, said an analyst.

At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 3.85 points to 1425.69 from Monday’s close of 1,429.54.

The benchmark index opened 0.85 of-a-point weaker at 1,428.69.

On the broader market, losers led gainers 183 to 72, while 188 counters were unchanged, 1,846 untraded and eight others suspended.

Turnover stood at 164.30 million units worth RM54.05 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the United States equities closed lower following a strong opening as sentiments became cautious on expectations of a choppy earnings season ahead.

He added that the Dow Jones Index Average lost 215 points while the Nasdaq declined 92 points as the US 10-year yield edged higher to almost 2.99 per cent.

“As for the local bourse, the FBM KLCI ended higher, attributed to some late buying activities yesterday.

“Nonetheless, potential upside for the benchmark index may be capped as sentiments remained fragile hence anticipate the index to hover within the 1,420 to 1,435 range today,” he said.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank were flat at RM8.58 and RM4.39 respectively, Petronas Chemicals rose seven sen to RM8.29, IHH Healthcare advanced three sen to RM6.45, while CIMB Group decreased two sen to RM5.07.

As for the actives, MMAG Holdings, MAG Holdings and Dagang NeXchange fell half-a-sen each to five sen, 17.5 sen and 75 sen respectively, while Metronic Global and XOX Networks improved half-a-sen each to nine sen and three sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index went down 28.74 points to 10,108.37, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 40.09 points to 10,184.45, the FBM 70 was 45.18 points lower at 12,094.50, the FBMT 100 Index narrowed 29.04 points to 9,873.16, and the FBM ACE weakened 33.60 points to 4,600.42.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index shed 17.79 points to 15,995.83, the Energy Index reduced 0.05 of-a-point to 628.81, the Plantation Index lessened 23.42 points to 6,752.51 but the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.09 of-a-point firmer at 169.80. — Bernama