KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened slightly lower today due to mild profit taking in selected heavyweights after recent gains, amid weaker sentiments on the global economic outlook, a dealer said.
At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 1.16 points to 1,589.08 from yesterday’s close of 1,590.24.
The benchmark index opened 2.21 points lower at 1,588.03.
Market breadth was negative with decliners leading advancers 166 to 145, while 264 counters were unchanged, 2,019 untraded and 16 suspended.
Turnover stood at 123.43 million shares worth RM75.37 million.
In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd expects the FBMKLCI to trade in a lacklustre tone today, tracking Wall Street’s weaker overnight performance.
“However, buying interest might emerge in domestic-driven consumer-related counters, such as 99SMART and MRDIY, which are expected to benefit from government cash aid and handouts,” it said in a note.
The brokerage firm said the Wall Street closed mostly lower as investors shifted out of significantly overstretched large-cap tech stocks and moved into small caps and value stocks ahead of the Jackson Hole meeting this Friday.
“Traders’ focus this week will be on Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium, where the market is speculating the United States Federal Reserve to adopt a more dovish tone and potential rate cut in September, with the probability currently at 86.1 per cent,” it said.
Among heavyweights, Maybank was 3.0 sen higher at RM9.83 and IHH Healthcare added 2.0 sen to RM6.87, while Public Bank slipped 1.0 sen to RM4.45, and both Tenaga Nasional and CIMB fell 2.0 sen each to RM13.70 and RM7.37, respectively.
On the actively traded list, Vantris Energy eased half-a-sen to 3.5 sen, Pestec and Magma trimmed 1.0 sen each to 11.5 sen and 37 sen, respectively, while Tanco was flat at 73 sen.
On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index shed 9.48 points to 11,802.93, the FBMT 100 Index declined 9.93 points to 11,587.72, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gave up 13.14 points to 11,718.26, and the FBM Mid 70 Index went down 20.95 points to 16,689.02, while the FBM ACE Index earned 0.05 of a point to 4,709.74.
By sector, the Financial Services Index reduced 11.09 points to 18,174.41, the Plantation Index improved 3.59 points to 7,550.07, the Energy Index edged down 0.44 of a point to 749.78, and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.12 of a point to 159.
-- BERNAMA
