Bursa Malaysia Starts Lower Amid Geopolitical Tensions
By Nurunnasihah Ahmad Rashid
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 21 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Wednesday, tracking weaker overnight cues from Wall Street as escalating geopolitical tensions over the Greenland takeover dampened investor sentiment.
At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 3.84 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 1,695.22 from Tuesday’s close of 1,699.06.
The benchmark had opened 4.25 points lower at 1,694.81.
Market breadth was negative, with decliners outnumbering gainers 181 to 106. A total of 295 counters were unchanged, while 2,102 remained untraded and 10 were suspended.
Turnover stood at 85.81 million shares valued at RM51.99 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said Wall Street tumbled sharply as foreign funds entered “Sell America” mode after former US President Donald Trump threatened more tariffs on those opposing his Greenland initiative.
“The US 10-year yield edged higher to 4.295 per cent amid accelerated selling of US Treasuries,” the brokerage said in a note.
On the domestic front, Rakuten Trade noted the FBM KLCI touched a seven-day low yesterday amid weak regional performance caused by Greenland-related tensions.
“We view this as a bargain-hunting opportunity for foreign funds and expect the index to trade within 1,700–1,715 today,” it added.
Among heavyweight stocks, Malayan Banking rose four sen to RM11.10, while Public Bank dropped two sen to RM4.70, CIMB fell four sen to RM8.13, Tenaga Nasional lost six sen to RM13.74, and IHH slipped eight sen to RM8.33.
On the actively traded list, SBS Nexus gained one sen to 25 sen, while VS Industry, Zetrix Ai, Dagang Nexchange and Netgreen remained unchanged at 46 sen, 80.5 sen, 32 sen and 79 sen, respectively.
Leading gainers included Fraser & Neave, up eight sen to RM35.80; Tradeplus, seven sen to RM5.95; K. Seng Seng Corp, 6.5 sen to 98 sen; Frontken, six sen to RM4.16; and Golden Land, 5.5 sen to 32.5 sen.
Top decliners were Hong Leong Bank, down 18 sen to RM23.68; Malaysian Pacific and KL Kepong, 16 sen each to RM33.40 and RM20.40; Petronas Dagangan, 14 sen to RM20.74; and Theta Edge, 11 sen to 66 sen.
On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index fell 25.04 points to 12,490.16, the FBM Top 100 Index lost 24.47 points to 12,288.07, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 28.68 points to 12,164.03, the FBM Mid 70 Index eased 19.55 points to 17,378.28, while the FBM ACE Index gained 4.41 points to 4,885.65.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 31.62 points to 20,412.93, the Energy Index fell 1.91 points to 768.92, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.15 of-a-point to 173.13, and the Plantation Index rose 3.14 points to 8,334.23.
-- BERNAMA