Bursa Malaysia sees choppy start amid mixed Wall Street cues

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia's key index saw choppy trading in the opening minutes, hovering between positive and negative territory before edging higher, in line with the mixed performance on Wall Street overnight.

At 9.18 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 2.97 points to 1,622.48 from yesterday's close of 1,619.51.

The benchmark index opened 1.25 points higher at 1,620.76.

Across the broader market, losers led gainers 291 to 150, while 282 counters were unchanged, 2,000 untraded, and 11 suspended.

Turnover stood at 276.83 million units worth RM178.87 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed mixed as technology-related stocks continued their meltdown, despite crude oil prices easing to below US$105 per barrel on hopes that both the United States (US) and Iran will resume their peace talks.

He said the FBM KLCI closed higher yesterday despite a weak opening, supported by the emergence of bargain hunters, while foreign buying also appeared to be returning, albeit sporadically.

"We expect trading to be muted ahead of the US mid-term election later today. As such, we expect the index to trend between the 1,615-1,625 range today," he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweight stocks, Maybank rose six sen to RM10.04, Public Bank added two sen to RM4.81, and CIMB bagged four sen to RM6.96. Tenaga Nasional eased two sen to RM13.28, while IHH Healthcare fell seven sen to RM7.78.

In active trade, GIIB and Datasonic were half a sen higher at 50.5 sen and 27 sen, respectively, and AirAsia improved 3.5 sen to 48 sen. Nationgate fell nine sen to RM1.97, and Ni Hsin was half a sen lower at 33.5 sen.

Nestle led the top gainers, gaining 42 sen to RM96.54, while Hong Leong Bank rose 20 sen to RM21.38, RHB Bank gained 17 sen to RM7.67, AMMB soared 15 sen to RM6.42, and United Plantations climbed 10 sen to RM29.40.

Among the top losers, MPI decreased 58 sen to RM39.20, Mi Technovation dipped 29 sen to RM6.01, Vitrox Corporation lost 26 sen to RM10.22, Hengyuan Refining slipped 19 sen to RM3.64, and UWC shaved off 16 sen to RM6.93.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 1.30 points to 12,071.00, while the FBM Top 100 Index added 2.38 points to 11,881.66.

The FBM Mid 70 Index sank 77.63 points to 17,309.95, the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 45.71 points lower at 12,055.82, and the FBM ACE Index gave up 29.57 points to 5,313.42.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 1.17 points to 177.60, the Energy Index declined 6.71 points to 830.18, the Financial Services Index widened 137.10 points to 18,706.51, and the Plantation Index expanded 12.78 points to 8,715.02.