BURSA MALAYSIA OPENS LOWER ON MILD PROFIT-TAKING

By Nurunnasihah Ahmad Rashid

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 15 -- (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Thursday, weighed by mild profit-taking after recent gains and tracking weaker overnight cues from Wall Street.

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 0.90 of-a-point to 1,710.01 from Wednesday’s close of 1,710.91, after opening 0.56 of a point lower at 1,710.35.

Market breadth was positive, with gainers outpacing decliners 137 to 121. A total of 287 counters were unchanged, while 2,093 were untraded and 21 suspended.

Turnover amounted to 132.70 million shares valued at RM52.98 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street ended lower in a choppy session as investors remained cautious amid multiple headwinds linked to US policies under US President Donald Trump.

“Back home, the FBM KLCI managed to close yesterday at a seven-year high, underpinned by sustained foreign buying. We expect foreign participation to continue, with the benchmark index likely to trade within 1,705 to 1,715 today,” he told Bernama.

Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank rose two sen to RM11.06, and Tenaga Nasional gained four sen to RM13.86. Public Bank fell one sen to RM4.66, while CIMB eased four sen to RM8.31. IHH remained flat at RM8.45.

On the most active list, Focus Dynamics inched up half a sen to one sen, and Capital A strengthened 2.5 sen to 57 sen. TWL, MMAG and Ingenieur were flat at 2.5 sen, five sen, and 3.5 sen respectively.

Top gainers included Allianz and Hong Leong Industries, which rose 16 sen each to RM20.36 and RM16.96. Malaysia Smelting added 10 sen to RM2.18, Malayan Cement improved six sen to RM7.74, and IJM gained five sen to RM2.85.

Leading decliners were Nestle, down 70 sen to RM117.80, Petronas Dagangan, down 42 sen to RM20.58, Fibromat, down 6.5 sen to 78.5 sen, Alliance Bank, down six sen to RM5.47, and QL Resources, down four sen to RM3.91.

On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index slipped 0.43 of a point to 12,626.04, the FBM Top 100 Index fell 2.35 points to 12,411.39, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 7.85 points to 12,355.43.

The FBM Mid 70 Index gained 15.43 points to 17,624.95, and the FBM ACE Index added 1.71 points to 4,987.66.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 18.78 points to 20,465.30, the Energy Index rose 2.63 points to 792.25, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.15 of-a-point to 174.98, and the Plantation Index fell one point to 8,527.70.

-- BERNAMA