MUTED START FOR BURSA DESPITE WALL STREET RALLY

KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Friday, as investors returned from the holiday with slightly muted appetite, shrugging off overnight gains on Wall Street fuelled by strong earnings from Microsoft and Meta.

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 4.94 points to 1,535.28 from Wednesday’s close of 1,540.22.

The exchange was closed on Thursday for the Labour Day holiday.

The benchmark index had opened 2.80 points lower at 1,537.42.

Market breadth was negative, with 129 decliners outpacing 122 gainers. A total of 259 counters were unchanged, 1,834 untraded, and 20 suspended.

In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said Wall Street extended its rally on Thursday, supported by strong quarterly results from Microsoft and Meta, which reinforced investor confidence in AI-driven growth.

“Microsoft surged over seven per cent on stronger cloud guidance, while Meta gained more than four per cent after raising its 2025 capital expenditure outlook to support AI investments.

“However, Wall Street futures are trending lower as markets digest earnings from Apple and Amazon,” it said.

The brokerage firm expects the local benchmark to remain supported in the near term, underpinned by six straight days of foreign fund inflows.

On the economic front, traders are awaiting April’s US nonfarm payrolls and unemployment data due later today.

Among heavyweights, IHH Healthcare and Petronas Dagangan slipped two sen each to RM6.90 and RM19.72, while Press Metal Aluminium eased three sen to RM4.87. Hong Leong Financial Group and Telekom Malaysia were flat at RM17.18 and RM6.80, respectively.

In active trade, KNM Group edged down half-a-sen to 3.5 sen, while Jiakun International and Reach Ten Holdings were unchanged at three sen and 52 sen, respectively. Salutica added one sen and Eco World International rose four sen to 25.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 25.26 points to 11,382.52, the FBMT 100 Index lost 28.41 points to 11,156.03, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 16.59 points to 11,257.70. The FBM 70 Index fell 10.63 points to 15,934.74, while the FBM ACE Index slipped 12.94 points to 4,615.72.

Across sectors, the Financial Services Index dropped 52.93 points to 18,181.67, the Industrial Products and Services Index dipped 0.58 of-a-point to 150.90, the Energy Index declined 3.72 points to 684.42, and the Plantation Index eased 4.59 points to 7,252.83.

-- BERNAMA