Bursa Malaysia opens lower on weak regional sentiment
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Friday, retreating from the previous day's gains, weighed down by weak performances across regional markets.
At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 5.61 points to 1,521.01 from Thursday's close of 1,526.62. The benchmark index had opened 4.15 points lower at 1,522.47.
Market breadth was negative, with 262 decliners outpacing 89 advancers. Another 204 counters were unchanged, while 1,866 were untraded and 17 suspended.
Turnover stood at 136.4 million shares worth RM69.83 million.
The softer opening came despite a positive close on Wall Street, as investors shrugged off concerns over the impending expiry of the 90-day US-China tariff pause on July 9.
Regional markets traded broadly lower. Singapore's Straits Times Index shed 0.41 per cent to 3,906.02, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 1.36 per cent to 24,035.38, South Korea's Kospi eased 1.26 per cent to 2,883.35, and Japan's Nikkei 225 declined 1.48 per cent to 37,607.41.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said sentiment remained supported by a cooler-than-expected US Producer Price Index (PPI), which came in slightly below forecast.
"The benchmark index is expected to trend within the 1,520 to 1,530 range today," he said.
Similarly, Public Investment Bank Bhd said the FBM KLCI could have opened higher in line with overnight gains on Wall Street, spurred by another encouraging US inflation reading.
Among heavyweight losers, MISC Bhd led the declines, falling 15 sen to RM7.55, followed by YTL Power International Bhd, down six sen to RM3.64. Malayan Banking Bhd and YTL Corp Bhd eased four sen each to RM9.73 and RM2.16, respectively, while Petronas Gas Bhd lost 20 sen to RM17.88.
Among the most actively traded stocks, Jaks Resources Bhd was flat at 10 sen, Velesto Energy Bhd edged up half a sen to 18.5 sen, while Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd slipped half a sen to 18.5 sen.
OCR Group Bhd was unchanged at 3.5 sen, and Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd added six sen to RM1.61.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 40.29 points to 11,404.63, the FBMT 100 Index fell 44.89 points to 11,169.38, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 43.56 points to 11,353.94. The FBM 70 Index shed 80.67 points to 16,421.99, while the FBM ACE Index slipped 24.93 points to 4,499.76.
By sector, the Plantation Index rose 14.81 points to 7,208.55, and the Energy Index added 10.35 points to 736.48. The Financial Services Index fell 35.30 points to 17,753.97, while the Industrial Products and Services Index dipped 0.75 of a point to 151.44.
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