KUALA LUMPUR (March 11): Bursa Malaysia opened easier today, after four consecutive days of gains due to profit taking, despite Wall Street’s overnight rally that saw the Dow Jones closing at a record high.
-Advertisement-
This was following news that US consumer prices increased by 0.4% in February, easing inflation concerns, dealers said.
At 9.07am, the benchmark FBM KLCI had slipped 5.64 points to 1,634.19 from yesterday’s close at 1,639.83.
The key index opened 3.10 points easier at 1,636.73.
However, on the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 343 to 199, while 347 counters were unchanged, 1,314 untraded and 17 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 624.48 million units worth RM279.89 million.
In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said it expects buying interest to pick up and that the KLCI might extend its gains today, taking its cue from Wall Street’s rally.
It said as the daily Covid-19 tally continued to dip below the 2,000 mark, market players are likely to favour the reopening of business activities moving forward, with domestic travel kick-starting the tourism economy.
-Advertisement-
However, it said the technology sector may undergo a mild consolidation phase as the Nasdaq took another round of breather.
“Meanwhile, we believe the recovery-themed sectors, such as consumer, gaming, construction, transportation as well as expressway stocks, may surface as winners over the near term.
“Additionally, the plantation and oil and gas (O&G) sectors may continue their upward trend, moving in tandem with firmer CPO (crude palm oil) and Brent oil prices,” it added.
Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) gained three sen to RM8.57, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) added one sen to RM8.18 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) had risen eight sen to RM10.80, while Public Bank Bhd and IHH Healthcare Bhd were flat at RM4.32 and RM5.29 respectively.
Of the actives, Vizione Holdings Bhd increased 3.5 sen to 34 sen, its warrant bagged three sen to 14 sen and Widad Group Bhd climbed 3.5 sen to 52 sen, while KTG Bhd eased one sen to 20.5 sen and Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX) shed 2.5 sen to 86.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index had fallen 18.40 points to 11,934.04, the FBMT 100 Index declined 22.32 points to 11,628.28 and the FBM ACE slipped 10.61 points to 10,341.81.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index was 9.77 points better at 13,190.80, while the FBM 70 improved 10.20 points to 15,578.35.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 89.56 points to 15,745.98 and the Plantation Index erased 6.01 points to 7,176.12, while the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.10 of a point to 190.20.-The Edge Market