Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Monday, tracking the weak performance on Wall Street last Friday. At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 13.55 points to 1,608.70 from Friday's close of 1,622.25, after opening 20.50 points lower at 1,601.75. Market breadth was negative, with 688 decliners outnumbering 58 gainers, while 239 counters were unchanged, 1,675 untraded, and 35 suspended. Turnover stood at 418.14 million units, valued at RM239.08 million.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng noted that Wall Street closed broadly lower as traders reduced holdings amid escalating tensions between China and the United States. The issues stemmed from Beijing's decision to curb rare earth exports, which led to further tariff threats from President Donald Trump. Additionally, the US 10-year Treasury yield eased to 4.059 percent.
Thong Pak Leng further mentioned that due to cautious sentiment, the FBM KLCI index is expected to hover within the 1,615-1,625 range today. Among heavyweights, Maybank and Tenaga Nasional reduced four sen to RM9.91 and RM13.18, respectively, while Public Bank eased three sen to RM4.27, CIMB Group slipped nine sen to RM7.41, and IHH Healthcare shed eight sen to RM7.91.
In active trading, Borneo Oil and Top Glove remained unchanged at half-a-sen and 67.5 sen, respectively. Malayan United, TWL Holdings, and Luster Industries eased half-a-sen each to six sen, 2.5 sen, and 4.5 sen, respectively. On the other hand, Gas Malaysia rose four sen to RM4.76, while Tomei Consolidated, Supermax, Poh Kong, and Kossan Rubber each added two sen to RM1.80, 51 sen, RM1.12, and RM1.27, respectively. Superlon edged up 1.5 sen to 74.5 sen.
Among the top losers, Malaysia Pacific declined 80 sen to RM29.92, Nestle fell 36 sen to RM97.20, Petronas Dagangan dropped 34 sen to RM22.40, while Carlsberg and Allianz Malaysia shed 26 sen each to RM16.40 and RM17.74, respectively. On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 115.30 points to 12,016.02, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 109.80 points to 11,744.08, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 126.80 points to 12,072.19, the FBM 70 Index tumbled 206.10 points to 16,971.46, and the FBM ACE Index lost 93.68 points to 5,205.08.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index was down 130.62 points to 18,252.81, the Industrial Products and Services Index slid 1.77 points to 173.09, the Energy Index shed 12.30 points to 786.67, and the Plantation Index slipped 67.21 points to 7,823.74.