KUALA LUMPUR — Bursa Malaysia opened slightly higher today but retreated thereafter, driven by mild profit taking, amid renewed concern over the global economic outlook, an analyst said.
At 9.22 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 2.08 points to 1,547.82, down from Wednesday’s close of 1,549.90.
The benchmark index had opened 0.21 of-a-point higher at 1,550.21.
Turnover stood at 389.23 million shares, valued at RM156.08 million.
Market breadth was slightly negative, with 212 decliners outnumbering 198 gainers; 329 counters were unchanged, 1,612 untraded, and nine suspended.
In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said traders will closely monitor China’s consumer price index and producer price index data, while focusing on the recent development in trade policies to position themselves strategically.
“We expect the artificial intelligence (AI) theme to regain momentum following the Trump administration’s plans to revise a set of chip trade restrictions called the “AI diffusion” rule from Biden’s era that restricts how US technology is exported overseas.
“Given Nvidia’s positive moves amid potential revision to chip trade restrictions, buying interest should return locally, particularly in the technology sector,” it said.
Among heavyweights, Maybank slipped 2.0 sen to RM9.98, CIMB fell 3.0 sen to RM6.92, IHH Healthcare declined 6.0 sen to RM6.94, while Public Bank rose 3.0 sen to RM4.50 and Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM14.16.
In active trade, NationGate improved 9.0 sen to RM1.58, Jiankun earned half-a-sen to 3.0 sen, Pharmaniaga added 3.0 sen to 28.5 sen while Fibromat shed 8.5 sen to 46.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index trimmed 12.49 points to 11,507.10, the FBMT 100 Index decreased by 11.37 points to 11,279.94, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index weakened by 29.45 points to 11,408.56.
The FBM 70 Index went down 1.30 points to 16,242.94, and the FBM ACE Index declined by 4.16 points to 4,647.45.
Across sectors, the Financial Services Index climbed 0.35 of-a-point to 18,188.96, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.24 of-a-point to 152.05, the Energy Index reduced 1.20 points to 683.85 and the Plantation Index shed 33.48 points to 7,271.81. — BERNAMA
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