Bursa Malaysia's early gains erode as investors lock in profits

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia started on a positive note but later retreated as investors capitalised on profits following a mixed performance on Wall Street overnight, an analyst reported.

At 9.15 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched down by 2.85 points to 1,642.83 from Monday's close of 1,645.68.

The benchmark index had initially opened 1.78 points firmer at 1,647.46.

On the broader market, decliners outnumbered gainers, with 185 stocks declining compared to 146 advancing. A total of 303 counters remained unchanged, 1,847 were untraded and 13 were suspended.

Turnover reached 157.08 million units, valued at RM84.77 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's equity research vice-president, Thong Pak Leng, said the Wall Street closed mixed amid concerns about the resilience of the United States (US) economy and the challenges the Federal Reserve faces in controlling inflation.

Consequently, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 344 points, while the US 10-year yield rose to 4.19 per cent.

"On the home front, the FBM KLCI closed flat yesterday, paring earlier gains due to profit-taking activities late in the session.

"The local bourse may be suffering from a post-budget blues as investors are still digesting the implications and there remain some unanswered questions," he told Bernama.

Furthermore, cautious sentiment persists, underscored by low trading volume.

Thus, Thong expects the index to trend within the range of 1,640 to 1,650 today.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank remained unchanged at RM10.66, while IHH Healthcare gained two sen to RM7.22.

Conversely, Public Bank eased one sen to RM4.56, CIMB Group fell three sen to RM8.17, and Tenaga Nasional declined six sen to RM14.58.

In terms of active counters, MY E.G. Services and Sarawak Cable each added 1.5 sen, reaching 90.5 sen and 13.5 sen, respectively.

KPHT Holdings dipped half-a-sen to 20.5 sen, while Silver Ridge Holdings and Yew Lee Pacific Group remained flat at 43 sen and 52.5 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased by 14.35 points to 12,354.12, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 6.61 points to 12,269.03, the FBMT 100 Index lost 14.17 points to 12,057.09, and the FBM ACE Index declined by 7.21 points to 5,101.73.

In contrast, the FBM 70 Index advanced by 4.30 points to 17,747.24.

Sector-wise, the Energy Index fell 2.92 points to 858.16, the Plantation Index decreased by 0.94 of-a-point to 7,240.23, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.42 of-a-point to 176.68, and the Financial Services Index reduced 19.81 points to 19,457.39.

-- BERNAMA