BURSA MALAYSIA OPENS LOWER, CI SLIPS BELOW 1,500-MARK

By Anas Abu Hassan

KUALA LUMPUR, April 7 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia trended lower in early trade today, slipping below 1,500-mark, tracking Wall Street’s downbeat performance last Friday amid looming concerns and uncertainties in the global market.  

At 9.04 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined by 49.92 points, or 3.32 per cent, to 1,454.22 from Friday’s close of 1,504.14.

The benchmark index opened 28.83 points lower at 1,475.31.    

The broader market was also negative. Decliners thumped gainers 748 to 39, while 148 counters were unchanged, 1,424 untraded, and 19 suspended.  

Turnover stood at 321.42 million shares worth RM221.58 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street’s decline last week was triggered by China’s retaliatory move to impose a 34 per cent tariff on United States (US) goods, raising fears of a full-blown global trade war.

On the home front, he said investors are likely to adopt a more cautious stance amid ongoing concerns over global trade developments.

“In view of heightened uncertainty, we expect investors to remain on the sidelines as sentiment turns increasingly cautious. As such, we anticipate the index to hover within the 1,500–1,510 range today,” he told Bernama.

Heavyweights Maybank shed 22 sen to RM10.02, Public Bank eased 20 sen to RM4.17, TNB slipped 46 sen to RM13.02, CIMB declined 31 sen to RM6.70, and IHH Healthcare lost six sen to RM6.73.

Among the actives, Saudigold was flat at one sen, Aizo and NEXG fell 1.5 sen each to 8.5 sen and 22 sen, respectively, Velesto Energy slid one sen to 15 sen, and MYEG shaved five sen to 87 sen.  

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dipped 401.24 points to 10,794.41, the FBMT 100 Index dropped 401.72 points to 10.572.16, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index shaved 398.18 points to 10,525.00.

The FBM 70 Index dwindled 729.82 points to 15,121.35, while the FBM ACE Index gave up 198.19 points to 4,434.41.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index shrank 594.55 points to 17.711.96, the Industrial Products and Services Index trimmed 5.08 points to 142.03, the Energy Index went down 34.44 points to 684.83, and the Plantation Index narrowed 156.79 points to 7,175.40.

-- BERNAMA