KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 — Bursa Malaysia stayed lower at mid-morning, weighed down by continued profit-taking in selected heavyweights amidst weaker sentiments in the regional bourse, a dealer said.
At 11am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia (FBM KLCI) declined by 1,378.47 from Friday’s close of 1,382.47.
The benchmark index opened 1.03 points higher at 1,383.50.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 419 to 224, while 312 counters were unchanged, 1,391 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 833.43 million units worth RM466.81 million.
Despite the Wall Street staging a rebound on Friday following the positive cues from global markets, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd opined that the upward movement may stall due to rising inflation.
It noted that the FBM KLCI could potentially be affected by the rising concerns about the United States tightening its monetary policy.
“Nevertheless, we still expect bargain hunting to emerge on the back of the solid balance sheet of companies and stable consumer stocks.
“Commodity-wise, the crude oil price is hovering around US$91 per barrel, while the crude palm oil price is trading along RM3,800 per tonne,” it said in a note today.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank added 4.0 sen to RM8.49, Public Bank went up 1.0 sen to RM4.21, IHH Healthcare improved 3.0 sen to 5.75, while Petronas Chemicals slipped 5.0 sen to RM8.50 and CIMB fell 2.0 sen to RM5.28.
Of the actives, ACE Market debutant Sunview jumped 22 sen to 51 sen, Top Glove rose 3.0 sen to 72 sen, Careplus gained 3.5 sen to 35.5 sen, while Supermax garnered 2.5 sen to 85 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 41.07 points to 9,817.25, the FBM 70 shed 85.31 points to 11,819.39, the FBMT 100 Index sank by 37.51 points to 9,569.95, the FBM Emas Shariah Index reduced 71.67 points to 9,783.12 and the FBM ACE trimmed 25.31 points to 4,626.79.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index was 16.57 points higher at 15,890.05, while the Industrial Products and Services Index ticked down 1.38 points to 168.50, the Plantation Index lessened 63.18 points to 6,358.70, and the Energy Index gave up 9.36 points to 659.33. — Bernama