KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 — Profit-taking activities in selected heavyweights continued to drag Bursa Malaysia down this morning amid cautious sentiments in regional bourses, dealers said.
At 9.15am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 3.0 points to 1,454.99 from Monday’s close of 1,457.99. The index opened 1.27 points lower at 1,456.72.
However, on the broader market, gainers led losers 212 to 149 while 292 counters were unchanged, 1,721 untraded and 11 suspended.
Turnover stood at 412.77 million units worth RM160.48 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said Wall Street closed flat overnight as investors traded cautiously ahead of the two-day United States (US) Federal Reserve meeting, which will ultimately decide the US’ interest rate direction.
At the same time, European and Asian markets ended lower as investors await key economic data from Japan and China which will be released at the end of the week.
Back home, the FBM KLCI had turned slightly lower after the quadruple witching day last week.
“Given that the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting will only be concluded tomorrow, trading activities may slow down on the local front.
“However, traders may shift their attention to domestic catalysts, such as the National Energy Transition Roadmap, the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 and the recent memoranda of understanding worth billions of ringgit signed with Chinese companies over the weekend,” it said.
Meanwhile, it expects the construction sector to rebound amid a potential rally ahead of the Budget 2024 announcement next month, while traders may look out for oil and gas stocks amid stronger Brent oil prices.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank, Petronas Chemicals and IHH Healthcare were down one sen to RM8.92, RM7.26 and RM5.96, respectively, and Public Bank fell two sen to RM4.18, while CIMB was flat at RM5.76.
Of the actives, TWL and Tanco were flat at 3.5 sen and 55.5 sen, respectively, KNM rose one sen to 11.5 sen and Sunsuria increased 5.5 sen to 60.5 sen, while ACE market debutant Mercury Securities added four sen to 29 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index went down 8.18 points to 10,754.14, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 8.94 points to 10,425.69 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 12.14 points to 10,983.49, while the FBM 70 Index gained 42.55 points to 14,268.55 and the FBM ACE Index improved by 1.47 points to 5,190.91.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index trimmed 15.14 points to 16,325.90, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.03 of-a-point to 172.91 and the Plantation Index contracted 17.75 points to 6,959.85, while the Energy Index went up 10.74 points to 903.28. — Bernama
