Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia opened with a decline on Monday, influenced by ongoing profit-taking activities despite a positive close on Wall Street last Friday. At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 2.88 points, or 0.18 percent, reaching 1,613.64 from the previous close of 1,616.52. The index initially opened at 1,616.03, marking a 0.49-point decrease.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the broader market experienced negative sentiment with 162 losers surpassing the 90 gainers. Additionally, 275 counters remained unchanged, while 2,218 were not traded, and 19 were suspended. The market's turnover was recorded at 86.49 million shares valued at RM39.45 million.
Thong Pak Leng, vice-president of equity research at Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, noted that Wall Street's positive performance last week was driven by investor optimism regarding cooling inflation and the possibility of a Federal Reserve rate cut amid weaker economic data. Locally, Thong anticipated that the FBM KLCI would continue fluctuating between 1,610 and 1,630 throughout the day.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank saw a drop of 10 sen to RM10.08, CIMB Group fell by eight sen to RM7.83, and both Public Bank and IHH Healthcare decreased by three sen each to RM4.36 and RM8.37, respectively. Tenaga Nasional remained unchanged at RM12.64.
In terms of the most active stocks, Capital A increased by one sen to 39 sen, while BMS Holdings, making its debut on the ACE market, fell by 3.5 sen to 18.5 sen. Land and General decreased by one sen to 14 sen, with Velesto and Kinergy Advancement remaining stable at 25 sen and 38 sen, respectively. BMS Holdings' opening price was at 19.5 sen, below its initial public offering (IPO) price of 22 sen.
Top gainers included Nestle, which rose by RM1.60 to RM113.60, Quality Concrete by 16 sen to RM1.11, and FCW by nine sen to RM1.80. United Plantations and Pentamaster increased by eight sen each to RM28.52 and RM3.78, respectively.
Among the top losers, Malaysian Pacific Industries decreased by 66 sen to RM31.24, Petronas Dagangan by 52 sen to RM18.88, and Hong Leong Bank by 30 sen to RM21.00. PPB and Batu Kawan also saw declines, giving up 20 sen each to RM9.96 and RM19.22, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell by 72.26 points to 11,889.97, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 53.75 points to 11,743.30. The FBMT 100 Index decreased by 70.21 points to 11,673.61, and the FBM ACE Index declined by 32.33 points to 4,783.81. The FBM 70 Index contracted by 46.01 points to 16,676.60.
Sector-wise, declines were observed across the board with the Financial Services Index dropping 164.33 points to 18,847.00, the Industrial Products and Services Index easing by 0.22 points to 165.56, and the Energy Index falling by 2.63 points to 755.91. The Plantation Index also saw a decrease, down 63.28 points to 8,032.97.