BURSA MALAYSIA OPENS LOWER, KEY INDEX SLIPS BELOW 1,500

KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia extended losses at Wednesday’s opening, tracking overnight declines on Wall Street and regional markets as global economic uncertainties dampened investor sentiment.  

Wall Street saw further sell-offs, with the S&P 500 falling 42.49 points, or 0.76 per cent, to 5,572.07, while the Dow lost 478.23 points, or 1.14 per cent, to 41,433.48.  

At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 20.53 points, or 1.35 per cent, to 1,499.62 from Tuesday’s close of 1,520.15. 

The benchmark index opened 15.44 points lower at 1,504.71.  

On the broader market, decliners outnumbered advancers 241 to 124, with 240 counters unchanged, 1,784 untraded, and seven suspended. 

Turnover stood at 191.19 million shares worth RM117.81 million.  

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said Wall Street’s upside remains limited despite the reversal of an additional 25 per cent tariff on steel and aluminium imports from Canada, as retaliatory measures by trading partners could weigh on economic activity.  

“All eyes are on US inflation data due tonight. A negative five per cent deviation from the 2.9 per cent forecast would likely pressure sentiment,” it said in a note.  

The brokerage expects investors to focus on fundamentally strong sectors, such as banking and real estate investment trusts (REITs), citing stable loan growth and healthy dividend payouts.  

Meanwhile, the local bourse is expected to remain volatile amid ongoing trade tensions between the US and its trading partners.  

“We have also noticed buying interest in significantly oversold stocks following recent selling pressure. 

"Coupled with a rebound in selected US technology stocks, there could be opportunities in the local technology sector, at least for the rest of the week,” it added.  

Among heavyweights, Maybank fell 10 sen to RM10.14, Public Bank declined eight sen to RM4.33, while CIMB gained three sen to RM7.29. CelcomDigi and MISC were flat at RM3.56 and RM6.95, respectively.  

In active stocks, Sapura Energy and Nationgate rose one sen each to 4.5 sen and RM1.16, while Mestron edged up half-a-sen to 27 sen. NEXG slipped half-a-sen to 26.5 sen, while Elridge and KNM were unchanged at 47.5 sen and 4.5 sen, respectively.  

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shed 118.87 points to 11,149.02, the FBMT 100 Index lost 122.22 points to 10,936.65, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 54.89 points to 10,819.12. The FBM 70 Index declined 66.34 points to 15,779.05, while the FBM ACE Index eased 9.60 points to 4,430.53.  

By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.52 of a point to 150.38, the Energy Index lost 7.65 points to 687.46, the Financial Services Index dropped 375.18 points to 18,394.10, and the Plantation Index slipped 42.65 points to 7,298.58.  

-- BERNAMA