BURSA MALAYSIA OPENS SLIGHTLY LOWER ON PROFIT-TAKING

By Zufazlin Baharuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened slightly lower on profit-taking after gains made in the local bourse recently.

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slid 1.62 points to 1,519.97 from yesterday’s close of 1,521.59.

The benchmark index had initially dropped 0.61 of-a-point, opening at 1,520.98.

Market breadth was negative, with 115 decliners outpacing 105 gainers. A total of 219 counters were unchanged, 2,001 untraded, and 117 suspended.

Turnover stood at 85.49 million shares, valued at RM35.33 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd’s equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng noted that Bursa Malaysia closed at an intra-day high yesterday, marking its fourth consecutive session of gains.

Hence, investors are engaging in profit-taking activities after the bourse rose for a few days, he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, in a separate note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said traders will monitor the United States (US) job openings and labour turnover survey (JOLTS) for March and the Conference Board consumer confidence for April later today to determine market movement.

It said Wall Street ended marginally higher on Monday as investors digested Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s positive comments about progress on trade negotiations with Asian countries, including South Korea, India, and Japan.

They are also waiting for earnings reports from mega-cap companies this week, namely Microsoft and Meta, which are set to report on Wednesday, and Apple and Amazon, which are scheduled for Thursday.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank shed one sen to RM9.98, and Public Bank and Tenaga Nasional gave up two sen each to RM4.43 and RM13.58, respectively, while CIMB was flat at RM6.99 and IHH Healthcare climbed five sen to RM6.94.

In active trade, NEXG and Aizo gained one sen each to 38 sen and 10 sen, Thriven Global ticked up half-a-sen to 10 sen, Iconic Worldwide was unchanged at nine sen, while ACE debutant WTEC Group eased half-a-sen to 24.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 9.27 points to 11,291.53, the FBMT 100 Index edged down 10.63 points to 11,061.14, the FBM Emas Shariah Index notched down 4.94 points to 11,143.38, the FBM 70 Index slipped 10.59 points to 15,864.75, and the FBM ACE Index eased 7.56 points to 4,622.53.

Across sectors, the Financial Services Index decreased 26.54 points to 18,136.78, the Industrial Products and Services Index shaved 0.32 of-a-point to 149.29, the Energy Index trimmed 0.90 of-a-point to 674.67, while the Plantation Index climbed 6.67 points to 7,230.29.

-- BERNAMA