FBM KLCI OPENS MARGINALLY HIGHER BUT TURNS LOWER IN EARLY TRADE

By Anas Abu Hassan

KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 (Bernama) -- The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) opened marginally  higher but turned easier in early trade today, taking its cue from the mixed performance on Wall Street overnight as investors weighed the United States (US) inflation data.

At 9.10 am, the barometer index fell 4.49 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 1,577.90 from Tuesday’s close of 1,582.39. It opened 0.84 of a point higher at 1,583.23

Turnover stood at 183.35 million shares, valued at RM106.84 million.

Meanwhile, market breadth was positive with 211 gainers outnumbering 178 losers, 276 counters were unchanged, 1,730 untraded, and seven suspended.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the Wall Street closed mixed on differing sentiment, as the Nasdaq and S&P 500 jumped on the proposed US$600 billion (US$1=RM4.30) investments in Saudi Arabia, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was pressured by an 18 per cent decline in UnitedHealth’s share price.

He added that lower-than-expected US consumer price index (CPI) data for April saw the US 10-year yield remain flat at 4.471 per cent.

On the home front, Thong noted that the local bourse is expected to see an inflow of foreign funds back into the market following their exodus since the beginning of the year.

"We believe the uptrend will be fuelled by the flight of funds back to equities from bonds, coupled with the inflow of foreign funds into the local market," he told Bernama.

Among heavyweights, Maybank and Tenaga Nasional gained two sen each to RM10.22 and RM14.36, Public Bank lost one sen to RM4.49, CIMB decreased nine sen to RM7.22 and IHH Healthcare was flat at RM7.05.

In active trade, Jiankun was unchanged at three sen, Nationgate strengthened four sen to RM1.67, Innature added one sen to 24 sen, NexG rose 1.5 sen to 34 sen and Notion bagged 2.5 sen to 72 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 18.54 points to 11,778.36, the FBMT 100 Index dropped 25.92 points to 11,534.73, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index went down 9.78 points to 11,704.08.

The FBM 70 Index shed 10.21 points to 16,751.57 but the FBM ACE Index improved by 4.04 points to 4,729.12.

Across sectors, the Financial Services Index eased 36.57 points to 18,539.35, the Industrial Products and Services Index was down 0.51 of a point to 158.06, the Energy Index gained 1.58 points to 722.73 and the Plantation Index advanced 5.86 points to 7,361.59.

-- BERNAMA