KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 21): Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Wednesday (Sept 21) due to profit-taking following its positive performance on Tuesday, while tracking Wall Street’s lacklustre performance overnight.
A dealer said investors remain cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) interest rate decision later on Wednesday.
At 9.06am, the benchmark FBM KLCI had fallen by 7.02 points to 1,454.08 from Tuesday’s close at 1,461.10.
The benchmark index opened 1.65 points lower at 1,459.45.
On the broader market, losers led gainers 184 to 79, while 191 counters were unchanged, 1,936 untraded and nine others suspended.
Turnover stood at 113.54 million units worth RM47.52 million.
In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the KLCI staged a rebound on Tuesday from last week’s selldown as investors snapped up selected banking heavyweights.
“Nevertheless, the widespread rout on Wall Street overnight over aggressive rate hike concerns will spill over into regional markets and the local bourse.
“Meanwhile, foreign funds remained in selling mode with five-day net foreign selling at RM261.4 million,” it said.
On commodities, the brokerage firm noted that the crude oil price had dropped to around the US$90 (RM411.12) per barrel mark, while crude palm oil was traded above RM3,750.
As for sectors in focus, it said the technology sector may be tracking losses on the Nasdaq overnight and trade in a cautious tone ahead of the Fed meeting, while the market may favour the banking sector amid the interest rate upcycle environment.
“We also like the construction and building materials sector ahead of Budget 2023 and election talk. Besides, plastic manufacturers could do well under the weaker ringgit environment,” it added.
Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) lost three sen to RM8.67 and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd too dropped by three sen to RM5.45, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd was down by six sen and IHH Healthcare Bhd too slipped six sen to RM6.08, while Public Bank Bhd added one sen to RM4.46.
Of the actives, Top Glove Corp Bhd stood at 70 sen, followed by SNS Network Technology Bhd at 26.5 sen and Citaglobal Bhd at 23 sen after trimming half a sen each, while China Automobile Parts Holdings Ltd was unchanged at half a sen and NWP Holdings Bhd too was flat at 24 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index went down 40.90 points to 10,383.0, the FBMT 100 Index lost 41.99 points to 10,124.76, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 51.62 points to 10,469.81, the FBM 70 shed 24.94 points to 12,624.21 and the FBM ACE gave up 36.73 points to 4,770.57.
Sector-wise, the Energy Index was 2.16 points easier at 718.03, the Plantation Index contracted 51.10 points to 6,856.44, the Financial Services Index fell 31.24 points to 16,422.45, and the Industrial Products and Services Index slid 0.97 of a point to 178.02.-BERNAMA