BURSA MALAYSIA OPENS LOWER ON WEAK US MARKET SENTIMENT 

By Karina Imran

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened lower this morning, tracking Wall Street's weaker performance as sentiment was further eroded by US President Donald Trump’s statement, said an analyst. 

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 2.34 points to 1,581.91 from Monday's close of 1,584.25. 

The benchmark index opened 1.52 points easier at 1,582.73.

On the broader market, decliners led gainers 188 to 96, with 240 counters unchanged, 1,826 untraded and seven suspended. 

Turnover stood at 95.74 million shares worth RM51.05 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the US market sentiment weakened after Trump announced that tariffs on Canada and Mexico would proceed as scheduled. 

Meanwhile, mass layoffs in both the public and private sectors may have negative implications on the US economy as the US 10-year yield eased to 4.40 per cent, he told Bernama. 

"Back home, the FBM KLCI declined to below the 1,585 mark but off the day’s low as foreign selling and bargain hunting activities emerged. 

"As foreign funds are unloading their holdings within the Southeast Asia region, we see this as an excellent opportunity to mop up shares as foreign funds will certainly make a comeback sooner than later," he added. 

Hence, Thong anticipates the index to hover at the 1,580-1,590 range today as Malaysia enters a busy results period.

Bursa Malaysia heavyweights Maybank, Tenaga Nasional and IHH Healthcare added four sen each to RM10.52, RM13.68 and RM7.29. 

CIMB eased two sen to RM8.36 and Public Bank edged down one sen to RM4.46. 

Active stocks Elridge Energy, Mestron and TWL edged up half-a-sen each to 47.5 sen, 28 sen and 2.5 sen. 

Meanwhile, Ingenieur Gudang slipped half-a-sen to 4.5 sen and MY E.G. Services was flat at RM1.01. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 21.33 points to 11,895.68, the FBMT 100 Index declined 21.09 points to 11,636.32, the FBM Emas Shariah Index tumbled 21.55 points to 11,585.46, the FBM 70 Index lost 46.34 points to 17,187.08, and the FBM ACE Index shed 1.52 points to 4,904.17.

By sector, the Financial Services Index slid 6.85 points to 19,299.73, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.54 of-a-point to 160.81, the Energy Index slipped 2.01 points to 766.86, and the Plantation Index was 6.97 points weaker at 7,563.33.

-- BERNAMA