BURSA MALAYSIA OPENS LOWER ON MILD SELLING IN KEY SECTORS

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened lower today, extending yesterday's losses amid mild selling in plantation, consumer products and services counters, according to an analyst.

At 9.15 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 2.91 points to 1,646.0, down from Monday’s close of 1,648.91.

The benchmark index had initially opened 1.49 points lower at 1,647.42.

Across the broader market, decliners slightly outpaced advancers, with 221 stocks declining versus 194 advancing.

There were 307 counters unchanged, 1,697 untraded, and six suspended.

Turnover stood at 229.62 million units, valued at RM115.68 million.

In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said that despite positive sentiment in China and Hong Kong, local stocks faced pressure yesterday as selling interest grew across the board. Meanwhile, the rally continued in the US with the Dow and S&P 500 reaching new highs.

“Traders reacted to remarks from Jerome Powell, who indicated that if the economy evolves as expected, monetary policy would gradually shift towards a more neutral stance. The probability of a 25-basis-point rate cut by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) in November jumped to 64 per cent, up from 47 per cent last Friday.

“Key upcoming events that traders will be closely monitoring include the US purchasing managers' index (PMI), non-farm payroll and unemployment claims,” it said.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose 2.0 sen to RM10.50, while Public Bank and IHH Healthcare improved 1.0 sen each to RM4.57 and RM7.17, respectively. CIMB and Tenaga Nasional were flat at RM8.05 and RM14.44.

Among the active counters, DNex added 5.5 sen to 39 sen, Capital A increased 2.0 sen to RM1.01, Cape EMS rose 1.0 sen to 35 sen, while Xidelang was flat at 2.0 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased by 19.62 points to 12,302.29, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 26.65 points to 12,218.47.

The FBMT 100 Index fell 24.29 points to 11,997.42, the FBM 70 Index dropped 46.65 points to 17,351.88, and the FBM ACE Index slipped 2.46 points to 5,174.82.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index shed 20.94 points to 19,268.24, the Energy Index edged down 4.49 points to 841.86, the Plantation Index fell 41.60 points to 7,137.70, and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.54 of-a-point to 176.42.

-- BERNAMA