KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Tuesday, as a result of mild profit-taking activities following significant gains from the previous day.
At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 3.92 points to 1,460.75 from Monday's closing of 1,464.67.
The key index opened 0.62 of-a-point easier at 1,464.05.
On the broader market, decliners outnumbered gainers 214to 152, while 290 counters were unchanged.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI surged past the 1,460 mark from broad-based buying amid the improving market sentiment.
"We reckon stock accumulation to persist predominantly from foreign funds thus expect the index to hover within the 1,460to 1,470 range today and may surpass the 1,500 mark anytime soon," he told Business Times.
Thong added that Wall Street took a breather but still closed slightly higher as the market may be consolidating from the recent rally and may have outpaced fundamentals.
As such, he said the Dow Jones Industrial (DJI) Average gained a mere 34 points (0.1 per cent) while the Nasdaq added 40 points (0.3 per cent) as the US 10-year yield climbed to 4.647 per cent.
Over in Hong Kong, he noted that the Hang Seng Index (HSI) jumped by 302 points (1.71 per cent) to almost the 18,000-level buoyed by a possible early cut in interest rates and more assistance from China to stabilise the market.