KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened trading on Friday on a negative note, as investors continued to take profit ahead of Bank Negara Malaysia's third quarter (3Q) gross domestic product (GDP) announcement later today.
At the opening bell, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was down 3.09 points to 1,461.33 from Thursday's closing of 1,464.68.
The market breadth was negative with decliners outpacing gainers 170 to 107 while 237 counters were unchanged, 1,876 untraded and 24 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 331.67 million units valued at RM65.39 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI failed to sustain Wednesday's uptrend as sellers overwhelmed buyers amid a weak regional performance.
Nonetheless, Thong said the index managed to close off day's low underpinned by some late buying activities. "We reckon the local bourse to trend within a narrow range today with some upside bias hence expect the index to hover between the 1,460-1,470 range," he told the Business Times.
Meanwhile, Malacca Securities Research said it believes the overall market sentiment may slow down further as investors could be eyeing on the US home start and building permits data later tonight. Thus, the firm said the FBM KLCI may expect further profit taking activities with traders slowing down on their exposure ahead of the weekend break.
Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd led the active list, falling 0.5 sen to 3.5 sen and Mercury Securities Group Bhd gained 0.5 sen to 34.5 sen.