Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Thursday following three consecutive days of gains, as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of the release of the United States' August consumer price index (CPI) data later today.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, at 9.05 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 9.61 points to 1,581.14 from Wednesday's close of 1,590.75, after opening 7.92 points lower at 1,582.83. Market conditions were stable with 119 gainers and 117 losers, while 209 counters remained unchanged, 2,177 were untraded, and 11 were suspended. The turnover was recorded at 68.44 million shares worth RM47.47 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, noted that Wall Street ended with mixed results overnight, with all three major indices trimming gains as investors awaited the CPI report. He observed that the producer price index (PPI) had slightly decreased in August, while the US 10-year Treasury yield slightly eased to 4.045 percent. Additionally, Thong mentioned that traders were hopeful for a potential rate cut by China due to its recent weak CPI data.
Thong further commented on the local market, stating that the FBM KLCI had closed above the 1,590 level on Wednesday, marking its highest point in two weeks. "We believe foreign funds may have started nibbling on local equities, which is a positive sign. We expect the index to move within the 1,590-1,600 range today," he added.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank decreased by six sen to RM9.73, Public Bank fell by four sen to RM4.23, CelcomDigi dropped by two sen to RM3.64, while Petronas Gas and Press Metal both shed four sen each to RM18.50 and RM5.58, respectively.
In active trading, VS Industry rose by one sen to 55 sen, while TWL and NexG remained unchanged at three sen and 49 sen, respectively. PA Resources eased by half-a-sen to 15.5 sen. Nestle emerged as the top loser, retreating by 50 sen to RM95.00. Petronas Dagangan fell by 14 sen to RM21.86, while PIE Industrial and Panasonic both dropped by six sen each to RM2.86 and RM8.45, respectively.
Across the broader market, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 3.12 points to 11,773.04, and the FBM 70 Index gained 25.86 points to 16,449.19. However, the FBM Emas Index shed 38.32 points to 11,748.13, the FBMT 100 Index lost 40.20 points to 11,511.26, and the FBM ACE Index declined 11.68 points to 4,716.42.
By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased by 0.43 of-a-point to 163.65, the Plantation Index fell by 3.44 points to 7,678.69, and the Financial Services Index dropped by 168.78 points to 17,923.37. The Energy Index rose by 4.06 points to 744.12.