BURSA MALAYSIA OPENS LOWER ON PROFIT-TAKING

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) opened lower on Monday as investors engaged in profit-taking in heavyweight stocks following the index’s recent strong performance despite a positive close on Wall Street.

Last Friday, the FBM KLCI surged 1.15 per cent to near a 15-month high, surpassing the 1,660.09-point level last seen on Sept 27, 2024.

At 9.15 am, the FBM KLCI fell 1.96 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 1,663.94 from Friday’s close of 1,665.90. The index had opened 1.62 points weaker at 1,664.28.

Market breadth was negative, with 195 losers outnumbering 188 gainers. A further 353 counters were unchanged, while 2,043 were untraded and 16 suspended.

Turnover amounted to 153.99 million shares valued at RM78.74 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, however, expects the local bourse to potentially reach the 1,680-1,690 level, tracking the positive performance in the US.

“Additionally, as Wall Street's rebound was driven by renewed optimism in artificial intelligence, we believe this may provide upside opportunities for local technology stocks,” the brokerage said in a note.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Tenaga Nasional added two sen each to RM10.46 and RM13.38, and IHH Healthcare was flat at RM8.52. CIMB lost three sen to RM8.12 and Public Bank fell two sen to RM4.50.

On the most active list, BMS, Zetrix and Compugates were all flat at 20 sen, 80.5 sen and 1.5 sen respectively, while Dagang Nexchange increased one sen to 30.5 sen. MR DIY decreased by two sen to RM1.50.

Top gainers included United Plantations rose 32 sen to RM30.16, Hong Leong Financial and Hong Leong Industries gained 10 sen to RM18.36 and RM16.60 respectively, and Tan Chong Motor added 9.5 sen to 67 sen.

Among the top losers, BLD Plantation slipped RM1.14 to RM14.90, Kuala Lumpur Kepong lost 36 sen to RM19.64, Petronas Gas weakened 28 sen to RM17.80 and Petronas Dagangan was 26 sen easier at RM19.46.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 8.80 points weaker at 12,224.28, the FBMT 100 Index declined 11.01 points to 12,019.74, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slid 6.33 points to 12,019.40, and the FBM 70 Index decreased 1.25 points to 16,811.94, while the FBM ACE Index garnered 6.37 points to 4,821.25

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index narrowed 39.32 points to 8,251.84, the Financial Services Index ticked down 24.19 points to 19,537.55, while the Energy Index shed 1.28 points to 767.70, and the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.49 points to 170.88.

-- BERNAMA