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At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI fell 4.60 points to 1,597.81 from 1,602.41 at Friday’s close. ― Picture by Hari Anggara
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KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 — Bursa Malaysia opened easier today, in a cautious mode on profit-taking, after closing on a firm note on Friday, on concerns over Russia’s war in Ukraine, and expectations of further US interest rate hikes that continue to plague overall sentiments.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 4.60 points to 1,597.81 from 1,602.41 at Friday’s close.
The barometer index opened 0.38 of-a-point easier at 1,588.29.
However, on the broader market, gainers led losers 178 to 147, while 251 counters were unchanged, 1,668 untraded and 35 others suspended.
Total turnover stood at 175.02 million worth RM80.60 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the local bourse closed higher on Friday as the FBM KLCI broke above the 1,600 level, attributed to last minute buying activities from foreign funds.
The Wall Street also stayed strong at Friday’s closing due to some bargain-hunting activities despite a weaker first quarter corporate results with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) gaining 139 points while the Nasdaq rising merely 41 points as the US 10-year yield ended at 2.4 per cent.
“Despite market undertone remaining cautious, we reckon further accumulation by foreign funds to persist, thus expect the index to trend around the 1,595 to 1,610 range today.
“On another note, news that the US will release its strategic oil reserves saw the Brent crude dipping to US$104 per barrel. As for crude palm oil, though prices may have eased of late, its average price for March saw another all time high at RM6,870 per tonne,” he told Bernama.
Among heavyweights, Maybank shed four sen to RM8.94, Public Bank eased one sen to RM4.77, Petronas Chemicals fell 12 sen to RM9.65 while IHH Healhcare and CIMB Group were flat at RM6.25 and RM5.33, respectively.
Of the actives,TWL rose half-a-sen to 7.5 sen, Pappajack increased 1.5 sen to 41 sen, Vortex added one sen to 11 sen, TA Win improved half-a-sen to 15.5 sen, while TWL warrant was flat at 4.5 sen.
On the index board, FBMT 100 Index slid 16.14 points to 11,133.86, FBM Emas Index eased 6.87 points to 11,464.78, and FBM Emas Shariah Index reduced 9.96 points to 12,023.89,
FBM 70 rose 44.51 points to 13,917.36 and FBM ACE increased 23.73 points to 5,709.61.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 0.63 of-a-point to 205.72, the Plantation Index slipped 32.33 points to 7,916.43, and the Financial Services Index trimmed 5.49 points to 16,903.37. — Bernama