KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Friday trailing Wall Street's tumble following lower economic growth in the United States amid a persistently high inflation rate.
At 9.30am, FTSE Bursa Malaysia (FBM) KLCI was down 0.02 per cent or 0.37 points to 1,568.88 versus Thursday's close of 1,569.25.
The benchmark index opened 1.58 points lower at 1,567.67.Losers led gainers in the broader market 320 to 203 while 326 counters were unchanged. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said Bursa Malaysia's lower closing on Thursday was deemed healthy after touching a year-to-date high.
"As such, we believe the local bourse may have more legs to trend higher hence expect the index to hover between the 1,565-1,575 range today.
"Meanwhile, the crude palm oil fell to below US$3,900 per tonne to a two-month low in line with the drop in other edible oils," he added.
On the global front, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 375 points while the Nasdaq lost 101 points with the US 10-year yield closing higher at 4.704 per cent.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index maintained its uptrend but off the day's high as foreign funds are raising their allocation for Chinese assets buoyed by a recent pledge from the Chinese authority to support the Hong Kong market.