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KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia opened mixed in early trade today, with the key index rising by a marginal 0.05% amid weak sentiment across the broader market.
At 9.25am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI added 0.83 of-a-point to 1,528.58 from 1,527.75 at yesterday’s close after opening 1.06 point higher at 1,528.81.
On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 295 to 159, while 269 counters were unchanged, 1,512 untraded and 12 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 426.06 million units worth RM196.79 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, in a research note, believes investors might still be jittery in anticipation of an interest-rate hike environment, as well as due to concerns over the still-spiking Covid-19 cases.
“Hence, the negative sentiment may spillover to stocks on the local front, and profit-taking activities on technology counters may emerge,” the brokerage said in a research note.
On the commodity markets, crude palm oil price continued to trend above its all-time high, while crude oil price hovered above the US$88 (RM368.94) per barrel mark.
“We remain positive in the energy and plantation stocks as commodity prices sustained. Meanwhile, we believe technology may turn lower on the back of profit-taking activities, while we expect the building material segment to gain traction as metals rally heats up,” said Malacca Securities.
On a separate development, the ringgit opened slightly lower against the US dollar today as mixed signals from the equity market continued to support the greenback, an analyst said.
At 9.0 am, the local note eased to 4.1910/1935 versus the greenback from 4.1925/1950 at yesterday’s close. – Bernama, January 21, 2022