Bursa eases on profit-taking after early gains
Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Tuesday but pared its early gains as investors locked in profits following recent advances, despite positive cues from global markets.
At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 1.93 points to 1,616.45 from Monday’s close of 1,618.38, after rising 1.85 points to 1,620.23 at the opening bell.
Market breadth was slightly negative, with decliners leading advancers 192 to 146, while 304 counters were unchanged, 2,082 untraded and 36 suspended.
Turnover stood at 203.18 million shares worth RM101.14 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, said it was another record-breaking day on Wall Street as all three major indices closed at new highs after the United States and China reached a preliminary framework deal.
“Meanwhile, the 10-year US Treasury yield eased to 3.99%,” he added.
Back home, Thong said the FBM KLCI is expected to trend within the 1,615–1,630 range today.
Among the heavyweights, IHH Healthcare gained two sen to RM8.37, Maybank added one sen to RM9.92, while Public Bank and CIMB Group were flat at RM4.92 and RM7.45 respectively, and Tenaga Nasional slipped eight sen to RM13.28.
On the most active list, Powertechnic Group added 3.5 sen to 38.5 sen, while Perak Transit and Tanco Holdings gained half a sen each to 34 sen and 89.5 sen, respectively. Land & General and Borneo Oil were flat at 15.5 sen and half a sen, respectively.
Top gainers included Malaysian Pacific, which advanced 20 sen to RM30.74, Telekom Malaysia added eight sen to RM7.34, DKSH Holdings rose seven sen to RM5.10, Vitrox Corporation increased six sen to RM4.72, and MI Technovation gained four sen to RM3.10.
Top losers included Fraser & Neave, which dropped 30 sen to RM28.24, Petronas Gas eased 12 sen to RM18.48, Petronas Chemicals declined six sen to RM4.00, while Kelington Group and Solarvest slipped half a sen to RM5.59 and RM3.04.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 10.70 points to 12,098.30, the FBMT 100 Index declined 13.89 points to 11,830.73, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 17.68 points to 12,182.23, the FBM 70 Index eased 19.32 points to 17,227.24, and the FBM ACE Index decreased 16.18 points to 5,220.57.
By sector, the Financial Services Index edged up 1.89 points to 18,251.81, while the Plantation Index gained 2.54 points to 8,018.96. However, the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 0.69 of a point to 171.56, and the Energy Index shed 3.74 points to 779.65.
