KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia retreated from yesterday’s gain to open slightly lower today, driven by mild profit-taking in selected consumer product counters amid mixed sentiment on the regional markets, dealers said.
At 9.15am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 4.254 points to 1,619.23 compared to 1,623.47 at Monday’s close.
The market bellwether opened 0.26 of-a-point lower at 1,623.21.
Overall market breadth was negative with losers leading gainers at 294 to 260, while 384 counters were unchanged, 1,262 untraded and 29 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 769.23 million shares worth RM490.78 million.
Malacca Securities, in a research note, expects market sentiment to remain cautious ahead of any potential lockdown announcement in the near future.
“The FBM KLCI extended gains for the third consecutive session, partly powered by the persistent buying interest in glove counters on the back of surging COVID-19 infections in several countries, particularly India and Brazil,” it said.
Nevertheless, the research firm said the upward momentum in glove stocks may be waning once the COVID-19 cases reduced, coupled with the ongoing vaccination programme.
“We continue to like the packaging stocks amid elevated demand for packaging and delivery during the movement control order (MCO) period. Besides, investors may put technology stocks on their radar following the rise in Nasdaq overnight.
“Also, transportation and logistics stocks could remain under the limelight, given the demandoutstripping the supply as of this juncture for the dry bulk shipping segment,” it added.
Nestle and Petronas Dagangan were among the top two losers on Bursa Malaysia, declining 80 sen and 20 sen each to RM135.70 and RM20.10, respectively.
Among heavyweights, Maybank was 5.0 sen easier at RM8.31, Public Bank went down 1.0 sen to RM4.18, Petronas Chemicals slipped 7.0 sen to RM7.84, while TNB was flat at RM10 and Top Glove added 7.0 sen to RM5.97.
Among the active counters, Focus Dynamics and Kanger International improved 1.0 sen each to 15.5 sen and 8.0 sen, respectively, KTG earned half-a-sen to 26 sen and Hiap Teck rose 1.5 sen to 55 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shed 23.62 points to 11,914.29, the FBMT 100 decreased 27.16 points to 11,565.42, the FBM 70 was 24.85 points lower at 15,692.77, the FBM Emas Shariah fell 7.79 points to 13,436.52, while the FBM ACE was 101.44 points better at 9,002.36.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index declined 16.31 points to 6,868.43, the Financial Services Index reduced 62.19 points to 14,989.42, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.36 of-a-point to 197.30.-BERNAMA