KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened lower as a result of profit-taking in selected heavyweight, aligning with the varied performance observed on Wall Street overnight.
At the opening bell, the FBM KLCI was down 0.77 points to 1,453.15 and lying against the 21-day simple moving average.
The market breadth was negative, with decliners leading gainers 151 to 128, while 276 counters were unchanged, 1,855 untraded and 48 others suspended.
Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street ended mixed support by retailers as Black Friday kicked off the holiday shopping season.
Back home, Thong said the FBM KLCI closed on a flat note as trading activities remained lacklustre due to the regional weaknesses.
"The domestic market undertone is still cautious as we head into the final leg of corporate earnings reporting, which so far has been quite decent. "Reflecting the ongoing market volatility, we believe the benchmark index to hover within the 1,450-1,460 range today, expecting some interest in the Plantation stocks with many reporting improving margins from better cost controls," he told Business Times today.
Among the heavyweight counters, Malayan Banking Bhd was flat at RM9.09, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd fell two sen to RM5.73 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd fell six sen to RM7.24.
Tenaga Nasional Bhd downed eight sen RM9.92 while Public Bank Bhd rose one sen to RM4.26.
Of the actives, Top Glove Corp Bhd fell one sen to 89 sen, Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd rose half-a-sen to 3 sen and Sime Darby Property Bhd rose two sen to 65 sen.