Bursa Malaysia Starts Lower On Profit-taking

By Karina Imran

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 29 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Thursday as investors booked profits from recent gains and assessed the impact of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) decision to keep interest rates unchanged.

At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 9.39 points to 1,747.10, after opening 3.18 points lower at 1,753.31, following Wednesday’s close of 1,756.49.

On the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 196 to 146, while 352 counters were unchanged. A total of 2,025 counters were untraded and 109 suspended.

Market turnover stood at 171.45 million shares, valued at RM133.98 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street delivered a mixed session after the Fed left rates unchanged, citing improving economic resilience alongside stabilising unemployment.

Domestically, Thong viewed the FBM KLCI’s decline as a healthy correction following a strong run since the start of the year.

“Nonetheless, we hope any rebound is not delayed, as this could erode prevailing market vitality,” he told Bernama.

He added that foreign funds, which recently exited Indonesia due to a potential MSCI downgrade, may turn to Malaysia as an attractive alternative.

“Hence, we expect the index to trend between 1,750 and 1,770 today,” Thong said.

Among heavyweights, Maybank and IHH Healthcare lost 12 sen to RM11.68 and RM8.90, respectively. Public Bank shed four sen to RM4.91, CIMB fell three sen to RM8.62, and Tenaga Nasional decreased two sen to RM14.06.

On the most active list, Velesto Energy eased half-a-sen to 30 sen, DXN Holding declined 1.5 sen to 49.5 sen, and TWL Holdings gained half-a-sen to 2.5 sen, while Hong Seng Consolidated and Niche Capital Emas were flat at half-a-sen and 11.5 sen, respectively.

Top gainers included Tradeplus Shariah Gold Tracker, up 26 sen to RM6.55; Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia, up 13 sen to RM7.396; Kuala Lumpur Kepong, up 12 sen to RM19.80; and Ta Ann, up 10 sen to RM4.65.

Leading decliners were Nestle, down 20 sen to RM113.30; Telekom Malaysia and RHB Bank, down six sen to RM7.85 and RM8.26, respectively; and IOI Corporation, down five sen to RM4.06.

On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index lost 50.08 points to 12,607.10, the FBM Emas Index declined 46.92 points to 12,795.47, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 34.02 points to 12,362.25.

In contrast, the FBM ACE Index rose 12.69 points to 4,759.45, and the FBM Mid 70 Index added 10.07 points to 17,573.30.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index fell 121.93 points to 21,385.75, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.32 of-a-point to 177.69, and the Plantation Index dropped 38.66 points to 8,406.12, while the Energy Index inched up 0.12 of-a-point to 757.55.

-- BERNAMA