KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 — Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index opened lower on Monday, tracking Wall Street’s losses as markets anticipated a further slowdown in the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate easing cycle.

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was down 5.71 points at 1,596.70, compared with Friday’s close of 1,602.41.

The index opened 3.45 points lower at 1,598.96.

Across the broader market, decliners outpaced advancers 293 to 75, with 275 counters unchanged, 1,726 untraded, and 19 suspended.

Turnover was 195.46 million shares, valued at RM76.91 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street finished lower last Friday, as positive US jobs data renewed inflation concerns, reinforcing expectations of a cautious Fed approach to rate cuts this year.

Thong added that investors remained cautious about China’s recovery, weighed down by sluggish consumption and escalating US-China trade tensions.

“Back home, our outlook remains cautious, as external factors continue to affect investor sentiment.

“However, cheap valuations may attract buyers on the dip, so we expect the benchmark index to trend within the 1,600-1,610 range today,” he told Bernama.

Among heavyweights, Maybank and IHH gained two sen each to RM10.12 and RM7.08 respectively, while CIMB fell four sen to RM8.14, Public Bank dropped one sen to RM4.43, and Tenaga declined six sen to RM14.04.

In active stocks, Key Alliance eased half a sen to 0.5 sen, and Velocity Capital, Ekovest, Widad, and Xidelang remained flat at 8.5 sen, 35 sen, 4.5 sen, and 1.5 sen respectively.

On the broader index, the FBM Emas Index shed 39.77 points to 12,263.00, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 41.06 points to 12,209.68, and the FBMT 100 Index declined 38.97 points to 11,944.87.

The FBM 70 Index slid 46.22 points to 18,421.31, while the FBM ACE Index decreased 27.75 points to 5,325.72.

By sector, the Energy Index added 8.19 points to 841.49, the Financial Services Index declined 38.10 points to 18,886.44, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.67 of-a-point to 169.99, and the Plantation Index trimmed 7.95 points to 7,502.67. — Bernama