BURSA MALAYSIA TRIMS LOSSES AT MIDDAY WITH CI DOWN 1.9 PTS

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia trimmed its losses at midday, supported by gains in telecommunication heavyweights amid persistent concerns about United States (US) inflation and President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariff threat.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 1.90 points to 1,589.01 compared with Friday’s close of 1,590.91.

The benchmark index opened 3.26 points lower at 1,587.65 and subsequently moved between 1,584.20 and 1,590.20 during the morning session.

On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 526 to 309, with 453 counters unchanged, 1,042 untraded and 22 suspended.

Turnover totalled 1.86 billion units worth RM902.36 million.

Kenanga Investment Bank said market volatility is expected to remain elevated in the first half of the week and improve later to close the week with mild gains, assuming Trump provides further clarity on tariff plans.

Trump reaffirmed that he would announce this reciprocal tariff plan on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Attention will also be on the US Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index data to be out on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, which could influence the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision, it said in a note today.

On the local front, investors will focus on Malaysia’s fourth quarter 2024 gross domestic product data on Friday, with year-on-year growth forecast at 4.8 per cent and full-year growth at 5.1 per cent.

“Technically, a bullish engulfing candlestick pattern formed on the weekly chart, signalling a potential trend reversal from a downtrend to an uptrend.

“However, last week's sharp rally could lead to mild profit-taking, likely causing a temporary pause in momentum during the first half of the week,” Kenanga said.

Regionally, markets exhibited mixed trends with the key indexes -- Hang Seng, Straits Times and Nikkei -- in positive territory, potentially providing some catalyst for the local bourse.

Axiata led gainers among the heavyweights, increasing seven sen to RM2.28, followed by CelcomDigi which rose four sen to RM3.82 and Petronas Dagangan which added 18 sen to RM19.70.

 In contrast, MISC decreased 12 sen to RM7.26, YTL Power lost six sen to RM3.38, and Gamuda weakened eight sen to RM4.48.

Among the active counters, Borneo Oil was flat at one sen, newly listed Colform Group advanced 2.5 sen to 38.5 sen, and Harvest Miracle Capital and TWL gained half-a-sen each to 17.5 sen and three sen, respectively. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shed 19.87 points to 12,129.66, the FBMT 100 Index slid 19.68 points to 11,820.38 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 29.76 points lower to 11,955.88.

The FBM ACE Index shaved 16.20 points to 5,244.15 and the FBM 70 Index fell 51.60 points to 17,981.93.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index added 1.25 points to 19,234.69, the Industrial Products and Services Index fell 0.47 points to 166.04, the Energy Index gave up 0.19 of-a-point to 826.25, and the Plantation Index edged down 5.05 points to 7,448.85.

-- BERNAMA