Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Friday, reflecting the overnight losses on Wall Street and the rise in crude oil prices, as highlighted by an analyst.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, at 9.15 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) recorded a slight decrease of 0.47 points to 1,736.68 from Thursday's close of 1,737.15, after opening 1.93 points lower at 1,735.22. On the broader market, the number of decliners surpassed advancers, with 210 against 185, while 350 counters remained unchanged, 2,028 were untraded, and 21 were suspended. The turnover was noted at 318.39 million shares valued at RM202.37 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, attributed the decline on Wall Street to rising crude oil prices, which climbed to approximately US$82 per barrel after Iran introduced a restrictive draft plan for the Strait of Hormuz. Traders are also anticipating the release of the United States' non-farm payroll data for July later today.
Thong mentioned that the FBM KLCI's decline was partly due to increased selling activity from foreign funds towards the end of the session. He noted that the selling was extensive as traders might have been locking in profits after a recent strong performance. Thong expects the index to fluctuate within the 1,730-1,745 range today.
In terms of the heavyweights, Maybank experienced a minor drop of four sen to RM10.76, while Public Bank and CIMB Group both fell by five sen to RM5.18 and RM7.92, respectively. IHH Healthcare saw a decrease of three sen to RM8.30, but Tenaga Nasional improved by 12 sen to RM14.60.
Among the active stocks, Perak Transit rose by two sen to 19.5 sen, and Steel Hawk edged up by half a sen to 14.5 sen. Malaysian Resources Corp remained stable at 34 sen, while TWL Holdings slightly decreased by half a sen to two sen.
Leading the gainers, Tong Herr Resources increased by 50 sen to RM2.40, with YTL Power International climbing 16 sen to RM4.53. Tenaga Nasional went up by 12 sen to RM14.60, Sunway increased by nine sen to RM5.22, and Press Metal Aluminium gained seven sen to RM8.06.
Conversely, Malaysian Pacific Industries topped the list of losers, shedding 58 sen to RM47.08. United Plantations decreased by 48 sen to RM33.72, Pentamaster Corp reduced by 28 sen to RM5.43, Kuala Lumpur Kepong declined by 22 sen to RM21.38, and Petronas Dagangan decreased by 12 sen to RM19.44.
For the broader indices, the FBM Emas Index fell by 6.39 points to 12,849.63, while the FBM Top 100 Index decreased by 7.19 points to 12,678.09. The FBM ACE Index eased by 1.70 points to 5,036.05, and the FBM Mid 70 Index declined by 26.29 points to 18,299.77. However, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose by 9.22 points to 12,700.76.
In sectoral terms, the Financial Services Index dropped by 80.15 points to 20,439.70, and the Plantation Index fell by 19.81 points to 9,444.74. Meanwhile, the Energy Index increased by 1.39 points to 763.80, and the Industrial Products and Services Index rose by 0.77 of a point to 188.55.