BURSA OPENS LOWER ON TRUMP-FED ROW, TRADE FEARS

By Durratul Ain Ahmad Fuad

KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Tuesday, tracking Wall Street’s overnight slump as friction between United States President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Jerome Powell fuelled investor concern amid a worsening trade war.

At 9.30 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 12.44 points to 1,487.03 from Monday’s close of 1,499.47.  

The benchmark index had opened 7.03 points lower at 1,492.44.  

Market breadth was negative, with decliners leading gainers 351 to 86. A total of 283 counters were unchanged, 1,705 untraded, and 30 suspended.  

Turnover stood at 536.74 million shares, valued at RM190.98 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Trump’s reported desire to remove Powell could undermine the Fed’s independence.  

“The tension between Trump and Powell has escalated, with Trump looking to remove Powell, though his hands may be tied,” he told Bernama.  

He added that the US 10-year Treasury yield edged up to 4.417 per cent, while the Hong Kong market resumed trading today after a two-day break.  

Back home, Thong noted that foreign selling may have tapered off by the FBM KLCI’s close yesterday, based on the day’s trading volume, which had shrunk to 1.53 billion shares, possibly the lowest so far this year. 

“While this may be positive for the index, persistently low trading volumes are a drag on market velocity.  

“As such, the local bourse is in dire need of fresh catalysts, with local institutions expected to lead in accumulating shares at current reasonable levels,” he said.  

Among heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank slid five sen each to RM9.93 and RM4.35, respectively. Tenaga Nasional dropped ten sen to RM13.38, CIMB lost 13 sen to RM6.73, and IHH Healthcare slipped three sen to RM6.86.  

In active trade, Magma inched up half-a-sen to 37.5 sen, Aumas Resources rose 2.5 sen to 80.5 sen, while Ingenieur Gudang, Jiankun International and Peterlabs were flat at four sen, three sen and 29.5 sen, respectively.  

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lost 78.64 points to 11,016.75, the FBMT 100 Index declined 80.55 points to 10,805.16, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 59.81 points to 10,825.26. The FBM 70 Index fell 75.66 points to 15,432.58, while the FBM ACE Index dropped 16.32 points to 4,549.88.  

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slid 157.67 points to 17,851.48, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.95 of-a-point to 143.08, the Energy Index erased 4.06 points to 655.95, and the Plantation Index shed 10.12 points to 7,201.01.  

-- BERNAMA