Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Thursday, but retreated thereafter, amid profit-taking after yesterday's gain, despite Wall Street ending mostly higher overnight. At 9.08 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased by 4.32 points to 1,737.29, from Wednesday's close of 1,741.61. The benchmark index opened 1.18 points higher at 1,742.79.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, on the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 172 to 158, while 340 counters were unchanged, 2,128 untraded, and 15 suspended. Turnover stood at 160.62 million shares valued at RM99.07 million. In a note today, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd mentioned that Wall Street closed mostly higher, as traders kept an eye on the US consumer price index (CPI) data due to be released later. There was some relief that the US Federal Reserve would refrain from making any rate adjustments for now.
Traders remain vigilant over the prevailing crude oil prices, which remained elevated at almost US$89 per barrel. Rakuten Trade anticipates stock accumulation to continue and expects the index to trend between 1,735 and 1,750 today. Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank shed two sen each to RM10.58 and RM5.17, respectively, while CIMB Group was flat at RM7.92. Tenaga Nasional slid eight sen to RM14.50, and IHH Healthcare was a sen lower at RM8.34.
On the most active list, Aemulus Holdings added 3.5 sen to 45.5 sen, Oppstar rose two sen to 70.5 sen, and HHRG was half a sen higher at 16 sen. GIIB Holdings was flat at 41 sen and Perak Transit inched down half a sen to 24 sen. Among top gainers, Vitrox Corporation gained 11 sen to RM9.55, Malaysian Pacific Industries, Wang-Zheng, and UMS Integration rose 10 sen each to RM47.60, 48 sen, and RM8.25, respectively, and VSTEC garnered eight sen to RM1.83.
As for the top losers, Nestle fell RM1 sen to RM101.90, Malaysia Smelting Corporation lost 17 sen to RM2.05, Press Metal Aluminium declined 12 sen to RM7.87, United Plantation slid 10 sen to RM33.50, and IOI Corporation reduced seven sen to RM4.48. Among the broader indices, the FBM ACE Index advanced 18.81 points to 5,222.24, but the FBM Emas Index depreciated 25.03 points to 12,893.67, and the FBMT 100 Index slid 26.80 points to 12,702.03. The FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 28.77 points to 12,742.11 and the FBM 70 Index declined 18.31 points to 18,417.50.
By sector, the Energy Index edged up 1.95 points to 787.69, the Financial Services Index gave up 24.93 points to 20,375.10 and the Plantation Index slipped 28.04 points to 9,440.30, while the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.11 points to 189.24.