Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Tuesday, tracking Wall Street’s choppy session as the United States (US) banking sector came under scrutiny following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, said an analyst. At 9.10 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 8.50 points to 1,413.33 from Monday’s close of 1,421.83. The key index opened 4.87 points easier at 1,416.96. Market breadth was negative with decliners leading gainers 183 to 121, while 233 counters were unchanged, 1,710 untraded and 11 others suspended. Turnover amounted to 193.64 million units worth RM102.60 million. Though the US banking sector was experiencing some temporary reprieve, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said sentiment remained fragile. As such, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 90 points, while the Nasdaq gained almost 50 points, he said. “On the domestic front, we reckon bargain-hunting activities would emerge today with interest in the banking and telecommunication counters. “Hence, we expect the index to trend within the 1,420-1,435 range today,” he told Bernama. Meanwhile, Thong noted that gold price jumped to US$1,911 per ounce as investors continued to look at safer asset classes. Among Bursa Malaysia heavyweights, Maybank slipped three sen to RM8.41, Public Bank trimmed four sen to RM3.97, CIMB gave up eight sen to RM5.25, Petronas Chemicals contracted six sen to RM7.04 and TNB added two sen to RM9.34. Among the actives, Awanbiru Technology and Ta Win Holdings gained half-a-sen each to 47.5 sen and 5.5 sen, respectively, and E.A. Technique (M) reduced 5.5 sen to 23.5 sen, while Vinvest Capital and Icon Offshore were flat at 22.5 sen and 9.5 sen, respectively. On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 46.22 points to 10,329.20, the FBM 70 Index fell 8.16 points to 13,236.22, the FBMT 100 Index slid 47.48 points to 10,014.43 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 27.03 points to 10,622.92. However, the FBM ACE Index improved 3.07 points to 5,302.13. Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 142.68 points to 15,577.71, the Energy Index eased 2.83 points to 850.00, the Plantation Index shrank 38.22 points to 6,754.11, and the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 0.25 of-a-point to 172.32.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency