KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 — Bursa Malaysia extended its downward trend to open lower today, tracking the overnight Wall Street performance amid concerns on US interest rates, said an analyst.
At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) lost 1.30 points to 1,604.05 from Wednesday’s close of 1,605.35.
The benchmark index opened 2.14 points lower at 1,603.21.
On the broader market, decliners outnumbered gainers 416 to 144, with 282 counters unchanged, 1,571 untraded, and 70 suspended.
Turnover was 414.44 million shares worth RM237.97 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said US Wall Street slumped as sentiment became jittery about interest rates concerns on the back of higher treasury yields.
He said that as traders were waiting for major inflation data tomorrow, many decided to lock in profits following the recent rally in US stocks.
“As such, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 411.32 points while the Nasdaq Composite declined by 99.30 points as the US 10-year yield crept higher at 4.61 per cent,” he told Bernama.
Locally, he said the FBM KLCI ended below the 1,610 level as selling activities continued and were dragged down by weak regional performance while waiting for US GDP and US Personal Consumption Expenditure data.
“Our belief of an immediate rebound did not materialize yesterday. Thus, we may see another day of consolidation for the benchmark index until the existing uncertainty is elevated.
“As such, we expect the index to hover between the 1,600-1,610 range today,” he added.
Among the heavyweights, Tenaga Nasional slid two sen to RM13.18, CIMB declined five sen to RM6.82, Maybank and IHH Healthcare were flat each at RM9.90 and RM6.19, respectively, while Public Bank added one sen to RM4.09.
Among the actives, Lagenda Properties lost 2.5 sen to 92 sen, Capital A gave up two sen to 84 sen, TW Holdings was flat at 2.5 sen. My EG Services gained three sen to RM1.07 and Epicon was up one sen to 32.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lost 27.10 points to 12,217.44, the FBMT 100 Index decreased by 22.25 points to 12,217.44, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 31.33 points to 12,447.24, the FBM ACE Index fell 36.28 points to 5,403.62, and the FBM 70 Index tumbled 84.58 points to 17,557.58.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index shaved off 16.49 points to 17,482.54, the Energy Index dipped 11.35 points to 982.54, while the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.05 of-a-point to 194.39, and the Plantation Index gained 9.49 points to 7,153.71. — Bernama
