KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 26 — Bursa Malaysia opened flat on Friday, taking the cue from the overnight retreat on Wall Street.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.77 of-a-point, or 0.05 per cent, to 1,580.77 from 1,581.54 at Thursday’s close.
The key index opened 0.57 of-a-point lower at 1,580.97.
On the broader market, losers led gainers 567 to 118, while 261 counters were unchanged, 1,253 untraded and 76 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 578.86 million units worth RM306.45 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn, in a note, said fears over higher rates returned to haunt traders as the US 10-year Treasury yield topped 1.6 per cent, prompting a sell-off on Wall Street overnight.
“We expect a muted performance today in line with the regional markets, thus, we believe the benchmark index to trend around the 1,580-1,585 range,” it said.
Meanwhile, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd believes the market would be pricing in the Covid-19 vaccination progress and trend on an upward bias tone, focusing on recovery-theme stocks, such as the aviation, tourism, furniture, and consumer products sectors.
“We reckon the key index will trade sideways with an upside bias tone within 1,570-1,620 over the near term,” it said in a note.
Both brokerage firms noted that investors may also watch out for the plantation sector, given the firm crude palm oil price, which had climbed above RM3,700 per tonne, as well as Brent crude price which is firmly trading above US$65 per barrel.
Among the heavyweights, CIMB and MISC slipped seven sen each to RM4.26 and RM6.70, respectively, Axiata and Tenaga shed six sen each to RM3.51 and RM10.06, respectively, while Digi was unchanged at RM3.75.
Top losers was led by MPI, dipping RM1.10 to RM36.90, followed by Carlsberg, dropping 60 sen to RM23.36.
Unisem lost 34 sen to RM8.63, Sarawak Oil Palms was 32 sen weaker at RM3.82, and KESM fell 28 sen to RM15.62.
Of the actives, MSM, which is also the top gainer, increased 13.5 sen to 99 sen, Lion Industries declined 6.5 sen to 90.5 sen, Dagang Nexchange edged down one sen to 70.5 sen, while its warrant was flat at 35 sen, and EA Holdings warrant also remained unchanged at two sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index retreated 42.90 points to 11,632.94, the FBMT 100 Index erased 31.0 points to 11,321.78, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 88.44 points lower at 12,993.21.
The FBM 70 gave up 140.04 points to 15,481.32 and the FBM ACE shrank 176.83 points to 10,786.37.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 1.49 points to 186.08 and the Plantation Index dwindled 17.43 points to 7,195.60.
The Financial Services Index rose 49.43 points to 15,035.22.
— Bernama
