BURSA MALAYSIA OPENS SLIGHTLY HIGHER BUT TURNS LOWER THEREAFTER

By Nurunnasihah Ahmad Rashid

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened slightly higher but turned lower thereafter, weighed by cautious sentiment following mixed Wall Street’s Friday performance.

At 9.06 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 2.62 points to 1,588.98 compared with last Friday’s close of 1,591.60.

The benchmark index opened 0.88 of-a-point higher at 1,592.48.

The broader market was negative, with losers leading gainers 185 to 108, while 315 counters were unchanged, 1,700 untraded and 10 suspended.

Turnover totalled 197.34 million units worth RM80.68 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng anticipated the FBM KLCI index to trend in the 1,585-1,595 range today.

He noted that Wall Street’s lead was mixed as traders selectively ignored the weaker-than-expected retail sales for January, signalling that consumers are cutting back on spending.

“As such, while the Nasdaq closed positively on persistent demand for technology stocks, both the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P500) Index declined.

“Meanwhile, the US 10-year yield eased further to 4.478 per cent,” he told Bernama.

The United States (US) markets will be closed today in conjunction with the Presidents’ Day public holiday.

Thong said attention is now focused on the assembly of China’s technology giants in Beijing today, which will discuss industry trends, government policies and potential collaborations.

“Though the benchmark index performance has been rather erratic so far, we are convinced that the return on buying in Hong Kong illustrates that Asia is becoming the preferred destination for foreign funds and that ASEAN should benefit in due course,” he said.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank eased four sen to RM10.52, Public Bank fell three sen to RM4.46, and Tenaga Nasional dropped two sen to RM13.88, while CIMB and IHH Healthcare were flat at RM8.35 and RM7.27, respectively.

Harvest Miracle led active counters, adding one sen to 16 sen, and Silver Ridge inched up half-a-sen to 57.5 sen, while TWL Holdings was flat at 2.5 sen, and Aizo Group inched down half-a-sen to 11 sen.

The newly debuted Richtech Digital bagged 31.5 sen to 56.5 sen, with 19.38 million shares changing hands.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index deducted 23.69 points to 12,082.92, the FBMT 100 Index was 24.77 points lower at 11,789.18, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index reduced 13.38 points to 11,834.13.

The FBM 70 Index dropped 58.28 points to 17,812.95, but the FBM ACE Index edged up 0.11 of-a-point to 5,134.89.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index was 1.94 points higher at 7,456.86, and the Industrial Products and Services Index was flat at 163.99.

The Financial Services Index shrank 69.08 points to 19,273.56, and the Energy Index declined 2.37 points to 796.18.

-- BERNAMA