KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia was lower after the Labour Day public holiday, weakened by among others, finance-related stocks.
At 9.02 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was traded at 1,859.55, down 10.82 points from Monday's close of 1,870.37.
The index opened 10.91 points weaker at 1,859.46.
On the broader market losers led gainers 117 to 74, while 104 counters were unchanged, 1,560 untraded and 16 others suspended.
Volume stood at 86.86 million units valued at RM17.35 million.
In a note today, Kenanga Research house said loans growth for March 18 dipped from Feb 18 at +4.4 per cent year-on-year (YoY), but higher month-on-month by 10 basis points to 0.4 per cent.
“Loan applications rebounded in March, but on a YoY basis, was flat with household applications falling for the second straight month. With approvals dipping, indicators point to weakness in loans growth ahead.
“Our view of moderate loans ahead still holds.Thus, we are maintaining a neutral outlook for the banking sector,” it added.
Maybank fell two sen to RM10.76, CIMB was down five sen to RM7.15, Hong Leong dropped 18 sen to RM18.82, while Public Bank was flat at RM23.80.
As for the other heavyweights, Tenaga eased two sen to RM15.82, Petronas Chemicals lost eight sen to RM8.37 and IHH was nine sen weaker at RM5.99.
For actives, Sumatec Resources fell two sen to 4.5 sen, AirAsia X inched down half-a-sen to 38 sen, YKGI rose three sen to 24.5 sen and Pansar was flat at RM1.20.
The FBM Emas Index declined 70.50 points to 12,963.19, the FBMT 100 Index trimmed 75,08 points to 12,777.09, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 95.31 points to 13,073.83, as the FBM Ace fell 5.93 points to 5,279.59 and the FBM 70 lost 92.76 points to 15,360.23.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index gave up 43.36 points to 7,932.48, the Industrial Index lost 23.77 points to 3,202.64 and the Finance Index was 75.81 points lower at 18,286.58.