BURSA MALAYSIA OPENS LOWER, FBM KLCI NEARING 1,500-MARK

KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia was lower in the morning session, taking its cue from Wall Street’s weaker overnight performance and selloff that followed US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariff plans announcement. 

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 9.45 points or 0.62 per cent to 1,509.46 from Thursday’s close of 1,518.91. The benchmark index opened 9.90 points easier at 1,509.01.    

Decliners thumped gainers 382 to 47, while 183 counters were unchanged, 1,747 untraded, and 19 suspended.

Turnover stood at 120.43 million shares worth RM68.47 million.

As investors anticipate that heavier tariffs on Chinese gloves will benefit local glove players, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said it expects the rebound momentum to persist, supported by yesterday’s strong volume, suggesting bottom-fishing opportunities.

“Meanwhile, we maintain our view that investors will gravitate toward less affected sectors by reciprocal tariffs, including utilities and consumer products and services,” it said in a research note today.

Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 2.47 per cent to 33,878.41, Singapore’s Straits Times Index declined 1.27 per cent to 3,892.17, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell  1.52 per cent to 22,849.81. 

Back home, as for Bursa Malaysia’s heavyweights, IHH Healthcare advanced five sen to RM6.80, Press Metal was flat at RM4.87, Maybank shed six sen to RM10.20, Public Bank eased two sen to RM4.38, while TNB and CIMB declined six sen each to RM13.52 and RM7.07, respectively. 

Among the actives, Jadi Imaging and Supermax both increased 1.5 sen to 3.5 sen and 79 sen, T7 inched up half-a-sen to 33 sen, Oversea Enterprise and Velocity Capital were flat at five sen and eight sen, while Sapura Energy and Elridge Energy inched down half-a-sen each to four sen and 46 sen.   

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dipped 81.97 points to 11,255.59, the FBMT 100 Index was 77.13 points easier at 11,031.40, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index shaved 78.32 points to 10,990.13. 

The FBM 70 Index lost 144.07 points to 16,008.58, while the FBM ACE Index gave up 47.57 points to 4,660.74. 

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 123.20 points to 18,357.71, the Industrial Products and Services Index trimmed 1.11 points to 148.68, the Energy Index went down 10.93 points to 724.21, and the Plantation Index narrowed 37.35 points to 7,368.18.

-- BERNAMA