Bursa mixed in early trade, FBM KLCI opens lower

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened mixed on Monday as investors weighed firmer regional markets against lingering concerns over the US Federal Reserve's (Fed) hawkish stance and elevated US Treasury yields, with the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) edging lower.

At 9.10am, the benchmark index eased 3.27 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 1,662.29 from Friday's close of 1,665.56.

The index opened 1.36 points lower at 1,664.20.

Market breadth, however, was positive, with gainers leading losers 223 to 185. A total of 324 counters were unchanged, 2,150 untraded and 20 suspended.

Turnover stood at 250.83 million shares worth RM129.99 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the Fed faces limited policy options amid elevated crude oil prices, while its efforts to allay fears of being associated with US President Donald Trump could prove positive over the long run.

Meanwhile, he said the US 10-year Treasury yield remained at its highest level since 2007, at 5.0 per cent.

On the home front, Thong said the benchmark index slipped further, ending 40 points lower for the week as foreign selling gathered pace in line with regional weakness.

"Nonetheless, we expect the index to be stuck in a correction mode within the 1,660-1,680 range today.

"Meanwhile, crude oil prices eased with Brent down to US$103 per barrel, thanks to Saudi success in mitigating the outages," he said.

Among heavyweights, Maybank rose four sen to RM10.36, Public Bank was flat at RM4.77, CIMB eased three sen to RM7.60, Tenaga Nasional fell 12 sen to RM12.92, and IHH Healthcare declined one sen to RM7.63.

As for the top actives, Zetrix AI decreased one sen to 19 sen, AirAsia and Butterfield firmed two sen each to 55 sen and 48 sen, respectively, FSBM added one sen to 7.5 sen, and Capital A inched up 1.5 sen to 25 sen.

Among the top gainers, Fraser & Neave was 34 sen higher at RM23, Solarvest increased 24 sen to RM3.57, Samaiden gained 23 sen to RM2.18, Hong Leong Bank added 20 sen to RM22.74, and Pekat was 12 sen firmer at RM2.23.

Of the top losers, Malaysian Pacific Industries shed 80 sen to RM42, Nestle was 78 sen lower at RM88.80, Sunway Construction reduced 48 sen to RM7.40, Time Dotcom dropped 47 sen to RM5.94, and QL Resources lost 27 sen to RM3.92.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 40.88 points to 12,370.84, and the FBM Top 100 Index weakened 44.71 points to 12,165.66.

Meanwhile, the FBM Mid 70 Index contracted 152.20 points to 17,691.81, the FBM Emas Shariah Index edged down 66.76 points to 12,245.23, while the FBM ACE Index advanced 32.54 points to 5,277.14.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index trimmed 1.01 points to 184.23, and the Energy Index improved 1.21 points to 821.83.

The Financial Services Index appreciated 8.22 points to 19,420.86, while the Plantation Index slid 4.25 points to 9,492.19.