By Rosemarie Khoo Mohd Sani
KUALA LUMPUR, June 17 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened marginally lower today on some mild selling activities, mainly among lower liners, despite Wall Street’s higher overnight performance.
At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 0.03 of-a-point to 1,519.96 from Monday’s close of 1,519.99.
The benchmark index opened 1.17 points lower at 1,518.82.
However, market breadth was positive, with 142 gainers outpacing 97 decliners. Another 246 counters were unchanged, while 1,931 were untraded and 22 suspended.
Turnover stood at 78.56 million shares worth RM43.88 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed higher as reports of Iran’s efforts to end its conflict with Israel lifted market sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8 per cent, while the S&P 500 gained nearly one per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite rose by 1.5 per cent.
Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index closed higher on the back of stronger-than-expected economic data from China.
Domestically, he said the FBM KLCI ended higher on Monday due to late buying interest in plantation and telecommunications stocks.
“Despite the easing of Middle East tensions, we remain cautious as peace negotiations have yet to yield a conclusive outcome.
“As such, we anticipate the benchmark index to fluctuate between the 1,515 and 1,525 levels today,” Thong told Bernama.
Among heavyweights, Maybank added 2.0 sen to RM9.61, Tenaga dipped 6.0 sen to RM14.30, Public Bank and CIMB gained 1.0 sen each to RM4.24 and RM6.76 respectively, and IHH Healthcare decreased 1.0 sen to RM6.90.
Among the most active stocks, Mpire Global and Jiankun remained flat at 11.5 sen and 3.0 sen, respectively. Nationgate Holdings rose 2.0 sen to RM1.47, Ekovest increased by half-a-sen to 36.5 sen, Bumi Armada slid 1.0 sen to 47.5 sen, while Ucrest improved by half-a-sen to 9.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 6.33 points to 11,367.12, and the FBMT 100 Index edged up 5.85 points to 11,144.20. However, the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 4.82 points to 11,368.84.
The FBM 70 Index gained 32.65 points to 16,316.11, while the FBM ACE Index weakened 2.82 points to 4,468.99.
By sector, the Plantation Index trimmed 17.74 points to 7,332.53, and the Energy Index fell by 8.96 points to 743.20.
The Financial Services Index rose by 22.10 points to 17,523.10, and the Industrial Products and Services Index increased slightly by 0.05 of-a-point to 151.18.
-- BERNAMA
