KUALA LUMPUR (April 12): Bursa Malaysia extended Monday’s losses to open lower on Tuesday (April 12) as investor sentiment remained bearish after an overnight fall on Wall Street.
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At 9.05am, the benchmark FBM KLCI stood at 1,603.22, down 1.39 from Monday’s close at 1,604.61.
The barometer index opened 0.74 of a point easier at 1,603.87.
Market breadth was negative with losers leading gainers 270 to 96, while 216 counters were unchanged, 1,671 untraded and 12 others suspended.
Total turnover stood at 232.23 million worth RM85.87 million.
In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd expects investors to trade in risk-off mood following the negative sentiment on Wall Street, especially as the selldown of technology stocks triggered by rising bond yields ahead of the US inflation data may spill over on local technology stocks.
“Nevertheless, daily Covid-19 cases dropped below 10,000 in Malaysia, which should support economic recovery, thereby benefiting recovery-themed [play],” it said.
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Commodity-wise, crude palm oil futures rose above RM6,000, while crude oil prices scaled back below the US$100 (about RM423.80) per barrel mark as investors anticipated lower demand from China amid Covid-19 lockdowns.
Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) rose one sen to RM8.86 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd added 10 sen to RM10.30, while Public Bank Bhd fell one sen to RM4.66, and IHH Healthcare Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd were flat at RM6.40 and RM5.33 respectively.
Of the actives, CSH Alliance Bhd and Vortex Consolidated Bhd added one sen each to 15 sen and 17.5 sen respectively, China Ouhua Winery Holdings Ltd gained half a sen to nine sen, ATA IMS Bhd was 3.5 sen higher at 47 sen and Vsolar Group Bhd was flat at one sen.
On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index lost 21.78 points to 11,121.77, the FBM Emas Index was 23.59 points weaker at 11,464.36 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 33.75 points to 12,081.43, FBM 70 shed 76.49 points to 13,699.99 and FBM ACE inched down 30.19 points to 5,764.30.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index weakened 0.49 of a point to 213.59, whereas the Financial Services Index slipped 3.47 points to 16,752.39, while the Plantation Index rose 23.24 points to 8,498.20.-BERNAMA