Bursa Drifts Lower In Quiet Early Trade

By Anas Abu Hassan

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 28 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index opened almost flat on Friday and drifted lower in early trade amid muted sentiment and the absence of fresh catalysts following Wall Street’s Thanksgiving closure.

At 9.07 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 2.97 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 1,614.49 from Thursday’s close of 1,617.46.

The index had opened 0.71 of-a-point easier at 1,616.75.

The broader market was negative, with 186 decliners outpacing 133 gainers. Another 262 counters were unchanged, 2,145 were untraded, and 48 were suspended.

Turnover stood at 182.16 million shares worth RM97.71 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the local bourse might have experienced a net foreign outflow as it closed broadly lower yesterday.

“Nonetheless, we believe bargain-hunting activities could emerge soon amid the absence of headwinds,” he told Bernama, adding that the benchmark index is likely to hover within the 1,615–1,625 range today.

Among heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank were unchanged at RM9.98 and RM4.35, respectively, CIMB added one sen to RM7.49, Tenaga Nasional fell eight sen to RM13.20, and IHH rose two sen to RM8.25.

On the most active list, ACE Market debutante Foodie Media rose seven sen to 37 sen, Sentoria eased half a sen to two sen, MMAG and Aizo were flat at 7.5 sen and 4.5 sen, respectively, and Inari Amertron slipped 11 sen to RM2.27.

Top gainers included Malayan Cement, which added 19 sen to RM6.89, Edaran up 12 sen to RM1.28, DKSH gained seven sen to RM5.12, and Kumpulan FIMA rose six sen to RM2.53.

Among the top losers, United Plantations dropped 18 sen to RM28.44, LPI slipped 16 sen to RM14.54, PPB lost 12 sen to RM11.18, Kelington shed nine sen to RM5.25, and Ajinomoto fell eight sen to RM13.40.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lost 26.29 points to 11,994.37, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 38.98 points to 11,962.25, and the FBMT 100 Index dropped 24.74 points to 11,776.95.

The FBM Mid 70 Index decreased 49.21 points to 16,978.23, while the FBM ACE Index slipped 8.25 points to 4,848.41.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index fell 0.71 of-a-point to 18,556.98, the Plantation Index lost 34.80 points to 8,095.44, the Industrial Products & Services Index dipped 0.12 of-a-point to 164.35, while the Energy Index gained 1.13 points to 757.06.

-- BERNAMA