KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 ― Bursa Malaysia was lower in early trade today amid a mixed performance on Wall Street overnight, ahead of the corporate earnings reports and the United States Federal Reserve’s (Fed) meeting, a dealer said.
At 9.15am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 4.42 points to 1,464.80 from yesterday’s close of 1,469.22 The benchmark index opened 2.73 points easier at 1,466.49.
On the broader market, losers led gainers 148 to 133, while 247 counters were unchanged, 1,781 untraded and 27 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 237.15 million units worth RM80.61 million.
In a research note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the local bourse outperformed the regional peers yesterday as the key index gained momentum in the final trading hour to close at its intraday high, supported by an influx of foreign funds.
“Although the market sentiment has been improving over the past few sessions, we reckon the investors may remain cautious ahead of the Fed’s interest rate decision and could take a breather in view of the mixed performances on Wall Street overnight.
“Commodities-wise, both the crude oil and crude palm oil prices trended mildly higher, trading above US$105 and RM3,700 respectively,” it said.
The brokerage firm expects trading activities to revolve around the sectors such as the consumer and banking stocks due to its defensive characteristic as well as the interest up-cycle environment.
Besides, the healthcare sector may see some buying interest after Singapore reported more cases of monkeypox, it said.
“On the flip side, selected technology stocks may pull back following the performance in Nasdaq,” said Malacca Securities.
Bursa heavyweights Maybank, Public Bank and Petronas Chemicals eased one sen each to RM8.79, RM4.61 and RM8.63 respectively, while IHH Healthcare and CIMB Group declined two sen each to RM6.43 and RM5.20.
Of the actives, ACE Market debutant UMediC Group advanced 19.5 sen to 51.5 sen, Serba Dinamik and South Malaysia Industries gained one sen each to 9.5 sen and 37.5 sen, respectively, while Zen Tech International and Vinvest Capital were flat at 5.5 sen and 18 sen respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 25.53 points to 10,374.36, the FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 32.81 points to 10,413.43, the FBM 70 was 11.95 points lower at 12,377.01, the FBMT 100 Index shed 25.71 points to 10,134.66 and the FBM ACE dropped 18.91 points to 4,731.20.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index improved 9.77 points to 6,884.14, the Energy Index climbed 3.65 points to 636.38, while the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.76 of-a-point to 176.50, and the Financial Services Index weakened 16.54 points to 16,493.08. ― Bernama
