Bursa Malaysia Mirrors Weaker Wall Street's Performance At The Opening

KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Thursday, mirroring a weaker Wall Street’s performance overnight. 

At 9.03 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 4.99 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 1,539.81 from Wednesday’s close of 1,544.80. 

The benchmark index had opened 3.34 points easier at 1,541.46. 

There were 280 decliners in the broader market and 52 gainers, while 199 counters were unchanged, 1,887 untraded, and seven suspended.

Turnover stood at 116.88 million shares valued at RM52.17 million.  

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said that the overall local sentiment is expected to trade in a negative tone, tracking Wall Street’s performance.

It noted that trading opportunities may be seen in gold-related stocks, given the recent surge in gold prices amid global economic uncertainties. 

“Despite the United States (US)-China tariff pause, pressure is mounting after the US warned that Huawei’s Ascend chips would violate export controls, potentially capping upside for technology stocks.

“Nevertheless, we remain positive on domestic-driven construction stocks,” Malacca Securities said in a research note today. 

Among heavyweights, CelcomDigi, Hong Leong Bank and Press Metal were flat at RM3.90, RM20 and RM5.05, respectively, while Maybank eased 4.0 sen to RM9.96, Public Bank shed 6.0 sen to RM4.37, TNB slid 2.0 sen to RM4.08, and CIMB went down 1.0 sen to RM6.99.

In active trade, Velesto, TA Win and SFP Tech were flat at 16.5 sen, 2.0 sen and 22 sen, respectively, while Harvest Capital and Alam Maritim gave up half-a-sen each to 18 sen and 3.0 sen, Perdana Petroleum shaved 1.5 sen to 16.5 sen, JCY International went down 2.0 sen to 33.5 sen and Sarawak Cable slipped half-a-sen to 2.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dwindled 50.22 points to 11,475.46, the FBMT 100 Index went down 46.94 points to 11,235.83, and the FBM ACE Index dipped 14.68 points to 4,611.37. 

The FBM Emas Shariah Index sank 46.51 points to 11,399.14, and the FBM 70 Index lost 109.62 points to 16,236.28. 

Across sectors, the Financial Services Index shed 77.94 points to 18,137.93, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.60 of-a-point to 154.45, the Energy Index was 6.35 points easier at 706.61, while the Plantation Index garnered 10.24 points to 7,340.02.  

-- BERNAMA