KUALA LUMPUR (July 28): Bursa Malaysia opened lower today, taking its cue from the overnight fall on Wall Street after the tech-heavy benchmark dipped to a two-and-a-half month low as worries over a regulatory clampdown by Beijing swept into US markets, a dealer said.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FBM KLCI was 2.91 points easier at 1,511.69 from yesterday’s close at 1,514.60.
The index opened 3.14 points lower at 1,511.46.
On the broader market, losers led gainers 218 versus 146, while 252 counters were unchanged, 1,627 untraded and 48 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 201.85 million units worth RM73.04 million.
In a research note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said bucking the regional downtrend move, the KLCI rebounded and posted modest gains yesterday on the back of bargain-hunting activities, as well as expectations of the economy reopening by October.
It noted that foreign investors were net sellers for the third session.
“Although investors will be shifting their focus from daily Covid-19 infections to the positive vaccination rate locally, local sentiment may still remain cautious following the negative performances in China and Hong Kong after Beijing announced additional measures for the technology, education and real estate sectors,” it said.
For the sectors in focus, it said the electric vehicle (EV) related sectors are gaining momentum with expectations that EV demand will grow in the near future.
Besides, investors may see buying interest in Kossan following its strong set of results, eventually spilling over into other glove stocks, although the sector has been losing ground amid the ongoing vaccination programme, as well as fading glove average selling prices (ASPs), it said.
“The resistance is envisaged around 1,530 to 1,550, while the support level is located around 1,500 amid cautiously optimistic sentiment,” it added.
Of the heavyweights, Public Bank Bhd, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) and IHH Healthcare Bhd slid one sen each to RM4, RM7.94 and RM5.82 respectively, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) added one sen to RM9.74, while Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) was flat at RM8.
Among the actives, Johan Holdings Bhd’s warrant gained three sen to 3.5 sen, Atroniq Bhd rose 10 sen to 50.5 sen, EcoFirst Consolidated Bhd’s warrant advanced 6.5 sen to eight sen and PUC Bhd edged up half a sen to 18.5 sen, while PDZ Holdings Bhd eased half a sen to 3.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 10.88 points to 11,088.46, the FBM ACE declined 19.98 points to 7,231.26 and the FBMT 100 Index went down 13.55 points to 10,790.08.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index was 11.29 points lower at 12,200.03 but the FBM 70 perked 9.59 points to 14,614.58.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index fell 27.75 points to 14,737.10, the Plantation Index eased 0.35 of a point to 6,199.10, and the Industrial Products and Services Index slid 0.27 of a point to 188.17.-BERNAMA