Bursa Malaysia Opens Lower Despite Wall Street Gains

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Monday, despite Wall Street’s stronger performance ahead of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) edged down 0.38 of-a-point to 1,566.34 from Friday’s close of 1,566.72.  

The benchmark index started the day 1.42 points higher at 1,692.11.  

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Market breadth was negative, with decliners outpacing advancers 187 to 154, while 305 counters were unchanged, 1,731 untraded, and 19 suspended.  

Turnover stood at 240 million shares worth RM130.9 million.  

Malacca Securities Bhd noted that Wall Street ended higher on Friday, with all three major indices recording their first weekly gains of 2025 ahead of Trump’s inauguration.  

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“All eyes will be on President Trump’s inauguration speech later today,” the brokerage said in a note.  

The firm added that expectations of an intensified US-China trade war could benefit the technology sector.

“Additionally, state-specific themes such as the Penang LRT development, Sarawak’s role as a regional energy hub, and the formalisation of the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) may boost the Construction and Property sectors in the near to mid-term,” it said.  

Among the heavyweights, Maybank was flat at RM10.14, Public Bank slipped three sen to RM4.41, IHH Healthcare fell two sen to RM7.13, while CIMB added two sen to RM8.00, and Tenaga Nasional gained six sen to RM13.66.  

For the active stocks, Ingenieur and Velesto added half-a-sen each to 5.5 sen and 19 sen, respectively, TWL Holdings remained flat at 2.5 sen, while CBH Engineering and SNS Network declined 1.5 sen each to 31 sen and 50 sen, respectively.  

On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index slipped 3.62 points to 12,005.21, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 1.89 points to 11,867.56. The FBMT 100 Index declined 4.01 points to 11,691.96.  

The FBM 70 Index shed 10.58 points to 17,935.30, and the FBM ACE Index fell 17.60 points to 5,158.66.  

By sector, the Energy Index rose 2.56 points to 843.11, while the Financial Services Index trimmed 23.60 points to 18,785.27. The Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.51 of-a-point to 167.16, and the Plantation Index advanced 3.58 points to 7,340.02.

-- BERNAMA