KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 22): Bursa Malaysia opened on a weak note on Tuesday morning (Feb 22) as profit-taking continued to emerge amid a weaker regional market performance, dealer said.
At 9.03am, the benchmark FBM KLCI had lost 5.11 points to 1,577.58 after the key index closed at 1,582.69 on Monday.
The index opened 2.75 points lower at 1,579.94.
On the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 194 to 125, while 200 counters were unchanged, 1,729 untraded and nine others suspended.
Turnover stood at 156.92 million units valued at RM77.75 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said rising tensions in Ukraine also continued to spook markets as both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq futures were down by 469 points and 370 points respectively.
Wall Street was closed for the US Presidents Day holiday on Monday.
“In view of this, we reckon the regional market will trend cautiously today (Tuesday),” he told Bernama.
On the local front, he said the KLCI is expected to go through some bargain-hunting anytime soon after heavy selling on Monday.
“Therefore, we believe the index to hover within the 1,575-1,590 range today (Tuesday),” he noted.
Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) slipped three sen to RM8.77, Public Bank Bhd eased two sen to RM4.35 and IHH Healthcare Bhd fell four sen to RM6.35, while Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd added three sen to RM9.15 and RM5.60 respectively.
Of the actives, Ta Win Holdings Bhd shed half a sen to 17.5 sen and Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX) dropped four sen to RM1.14, while Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd gained five sen to RM1.18 and AHB Holdings Bhd was half a sen higher at 24 sen.
On the index board, the FBM ACE depreciated 28.68 points to 6,141.21, the FBM Emas Shariah Index erased 43.42 points to 11,948.83, the FBM Emas Index fell 35.48 points to 11,286.28, the FBM 70 slid 62.26 points to 13,573.53 and the FBMT 100 Index contracted 38.77 points to 10,956.74.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 0.77 of a point to 207.76 and the Financial Services Index went down 30.77 points to 16,384.07, while the Plantation Index gained 11.32 points to 7,797.14.-BERNAMA