KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened lower, amid negative sentiment this morning, in line with the retracement of Asian equity markets early today and following the plunge of the overnight US stocks, dealers said.
At 9.03 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 5.04 points lower at 1,771.27 against Thursday's close of 1,776.31.
The benchmark index opened 3.97 points easier at 1,774.81.
On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 281 to 44 with 135 counters unchanged, 1,387 untraded and 44 others were suspended.
A dealer said terrorists attack in Barcelona exacerbated uncertainties surrounding the equities market which was triggered by mounting concerns over President Donald Trump’s administration and his ability to push his pro-business agenda.
Meanwhile, Public Investment Bank Bhd said the FBM KLCI was expected to remain cautious on lingering uncertainty over the outlook for US monetary and fiscal policies which dragged the Wall Street sharply lower last night.
Heavyweights, Maybank shed three sen to RM9.67, Tenaga eased two sen to RM14.22, Public Bank fell four sen to RM20.52, CIMB Group slid five sen to RM6.72, Petronas Chemicals shed eight sen to RM7.20 while Sime Darby was flat at RM9.30.
Among actives, Systech fell three sen to 41 sen, Lotte Chemical warrant eased 2.5 sen to 32 sen, Dagang Nexchange warrant and UMW Oil and Gas trimmed half-a-sen each to 23.5 sen and 30.5 sen, respectively, while Aemulus was one sen higher at 70 sen.
The FBM Emas Index was 36.82 points lower at 12,589.32, FBM 70 fell 36.85 points to 14,942.17, FBM Emas Shariah Index gave up 30.09 points to 12,736.14, FBMT 100 Index decreased 33.69 points to 12,248.22 and the FBM Ace declined 46.65 points to 6,529.66.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index was 49.63 points lower at 16,740.16, the Plantation Index shed 5.68 points to 7,773.27 while the Industrial Index eased 3.81 points to 3,22.83. -- BERNAMA