Bursa malaysia: Bursa Malaysia opened nearly flat on Friday following a mixed performance on Wall Street, as investors showed caution regarding the impact of US President Donald Trump's tariffs. Tariffs ranging from 15 per cent to 50 per cent on major economies were implemented on Thursday, despite ongoing negotiations with Washington.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, at 9.10 a.m., the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased slightly by 0.28 of a point, or 0.02 per cent, to 1,549.39 from Thursday's close of 1,549.11. The benchmark initially opened 0.11 of a point lower at 1,549.00. Market breadth was slightly negative, with 157 decliners outnumbering 111 gainers. Additionally, 255 counters remained unchanged, 1,990 were untraded, and nine were suspended. Turnover reached 158.25 million shares valued at RM69.68 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng highlighted that Wall Street's mixed close mirrored investor caution over the potential ramifications of Trump's tariffs, which could manifest in the forthcoming months. In the regional markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index continued its upward trend, buoyed by an unexpected improvement in China's July exports, which increased by 7.2 per cent against market expectations of 5.6 per cent.
Thong mentioned to Bernama, "While we believe there could be some foreign buying, we hope this time they will stay a tad longer. For today, we expect the FBM KLCI to trend between the 1,545 and 1,555 range."
In terms of individual stocks, major players such as Maybank and Tenaga Nasional each gained two sen to RM9.65 and RM13.78 respectively, CIMB rose three sen to RM6.81, while Public Bank remained flat at RM4.29. IHH Healthcare saw a decrease of four sen to RM6.91.
On the actively traded list, TWL stayed unchanged at 2.5 sen, Ekovest decreased by one sen to 39.5 sen, and Genting lost four sen to RM2.96. NexG and Malayan United Industries each added half a sen to 53.5 sen and 6.5 sen respectively.
In broader market movements, the FBM Emas Index slightly decreased by 0.39 of a point to 11,566.15, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell by 7.58 points to 11,598.58, while the FBMT 100 Index increased by 0.41 of a point to 11,341.07. The FBM 70 Index dropped by 6.69 points to 16,522.28, and the FBM ACE Index declined by 14.72 points to 4,616.16.
By sector, the Financial Services Index advanced by 20.22 points to 17,514.68, the Plantation Index gained 27.14 points to 7,375.88, the Energy Index rose by 0.49 of a point to 735.17, whereas the Industrial Products and Services Index decreased by 0.17 of a point to 157.85.