BURSA MALAYSIA OPENS LOWER ON PROFIT-TAKING

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 26 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia retreated from its previous gains to open lower on Friday as investors engaged in profit-taking in selected heavyweight stocks.

At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI)  fell 2.88 points to 1,675.43 from Wednesday’s close of 1,678.31. The index had opened 0.81 of a point weaker at 1,677.50.

The market was closed yesterday in observance of Christmas Day.

Meanwhile, on the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 177 versus 98, while 278 counters were unchanged, 2,221 untraded, and 60 suspended.

Turnover amounted to 93.66 million shares valued at RM42.60 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng noted that Wall Street staged a mini Santa Claus rally to close stronger, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average setting another record high as traders preferred to ignore the recent better-than-expected third quarter gross domestic product growth that could dampen rate cuts.

On the home front, he believes the buying has been done predominantly by the local institutions.

“Although the environment is also conducive for foreign funds, many are still avoiding the local bourse for now. For today, we expect the index to trend in the 1,670-1,680 range,” he said.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Tenaga Nasional lost two sen to RM10.46 and RM13.58, respectively, Public Bank fell one sen to RM4.51 and IHH Healthcare slid four sen to RM8.63, while CIMB rose one sen to RM8.12.

On the most active list, mTouche Technology, Salutica and Ekovest gained half a sen each to 4.5 sen, 22.5 sen and 29 sen, respectively, while Zetrix AI and Mega Fortis decreased half a sen to 81.5 sen and 77.5 sen, respectively.

Of the top gainers, United Plantations rose eight sen to RM29.94, Multi-Usage increased six sen to 40 sen, while Malayan Cement and Press Metal expanded five sen to RM7.39 and RM7.24, respectively.

As for the top losers, Malaysian Pacific slipped 20 sen to RM32.22, Petronas Chemicals eased seven sen to RM3.61 and UWC decreased five sen to RM4.20, while Solarvest and Gamuda fell three sen to RM3.18 and RM5.07, respectively. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 13.74 points weaker at 12,292.17, the FBMT Top 100 Index declined 18.49 points to 12,089.05, the FBM Emas Shariah Index narrowed 19.20 points to 12,115.43, and the FBM Mid 70 Index gave up 15.18 points to 16,847.34, while the FBM ACE Index gained 3.62 points to 4,831.79

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index widened 4.22 points to 8,283.93, while the Financial Services Index ticked down 12.04 points to 19,611.95, the Energy Index dropped 0.58 of a point to 766.10, and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.19 of a point to 173.82.

-- BERNAMA