KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 — Bursa Malaysia started the trading day lower following a mixed Wall Street overnight performance as overall sentiment remained directionless with traders waiting for the latest inflation data to be released later this week.

At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) decreased 8.92 points to 1,549.88 from yesterday’s close of 1,558.80.

The benchmark index opened 2.50 points weaker at 1,556.30.

Market sentiment was negative with losers outpacing gainers 220 to 181, while 294 counters were unchanged, 1,614 untraded and 77 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 579.06 million units worth RM186.52 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street’s overnight performance was mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 97 points while the Nasdaq adding 59 points as the US 10-year yield edged higher at 4.303 per cent.

Meanwhile, he said, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 156 points after a weak opening as traders speculated that there would be more stimulus to prop up the property market following a decline in home prices for the ninth month.

“Back home, despite the benchmark index improving by more than 100 points year to date, we believe there is still upside potential as prevailing uptrend is merely a catch-up process after a multi-year underperformance.

“For today, we expect the index to hover within the 1,555-1,565 range,” he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank added one sen to RM9.52, CIMB eased one sen to RM6.44, Tenaga Nasional lost 36 sen to RM11.06, Petronas Chemicals slid 13 sen to RM6.81, and Public Bank was flat at RM4.47.

As for the actives, Hong Seng Consolidated and TWL Holdings inched up half-a-sen each to 2.5 sen and four sen, respectively, Velesto Energy went up 4.5 sen to 31 sen, Leform gained one sen to 17.5 sen, and BCM Alliance trimmed half-a-sen to 1.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 41.53 points lower at 11,513.10, the FBMT 100 Index shrank 42.25 points to 11,167.34, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index weakened 59.98 points to 11,521.11, while the FBM 70 Index notched up 31.96 points to 15,542.76 and the FBM ACE Index was 12.0 points better at 4,816.95.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index fell 2.33 points to 17,339.82, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.88 of-a-point to 176.91, and the Plantation Index declined 19.33 points to 7,163.73, but the Energy Index perked 20.60 points to 952.08. — Bernama