KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 3): Bursa Malaysia was lower in early trade on Wednesday (Aug 3), mirroring the volatile session on Wall Street overnight, a dealer said.
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At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 7.43 points to 1,487.62 from Tuesday’s close of 1,495.05.
The benchmark index opened 6.47 points weaker at 1,488.58.
On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 235 to 81, while 204 counters were unchanged, 1,715 untraded and nine others suspended.
Turnover stood at 126.77 million units worth RM54.76 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said Wall Street turned volatile as the Dow Jones Index declined 1.2% after job openings in June 2022 fell to a nine-month low, while the arrival of US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi at Taiwan stoked geopolitical tensions between the United States and China.
The brokerage said global markets may see an uneven recovery as investors weighed the escalating US-China tension and some hawkish comments from several Federal Reserve officials, which cause a surge in bond yields as investors priced in more interest rate hike.
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“Nevertheless, we believe continuous buying from the foreign funds will support the local bourse,” it said in a note on Wednesday.
On the commodity markets, Malacca Securities said Brent oil was traded above US$100 per barrel, while the crude palm oil fell below the crucial support of RM4,000 per tonne.
Among the heavyweights, both Malayan Banking Bhd and Public Bank Bhd slid four sen each to RM8.84 and RM4.62 respectively, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd was down five sen to RM5.20, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd rose seven sen to RM8.92, while IHH Healthcare Bhd was flat at RM6.42.
Of the actives, CSH Alliance Bhd and Borneo Oil Bhd were flat at 5.5 sen and 2.5 sen respectively, both TWL Holdings Bhd and Dagang NeXchange Bhd were half-a-sen higher at 6.5 sen and 80 sen respectively, and Malaysian Genomics Resource Centre Bhd added six sen to 77 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped by 36.63 points to 10,660.52, the FBM ACE was down by 28.67 points to 4,767.91, the FBMT 100 Index declined 43.71 points to 10,292.97, the FBM Emas Index decreased 44.43 points to 10,538.07 and the FBM 70 gave up 22.42 points to 12,572.08.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index weakened 4.97 points to 7,023.08, the Industrial Products and Services Index contracted 0.36 of-a-point to 184.08, the Energy Index reduced 0.73 of-a-point to 657.86, and the Financial Services Index went down 80.56 points to 16,570.71.-BERNAMA