Bursa opens easier on cautious market sentiment

KUALA LUMPUR (April 12): Bursa Malaysia opened easier this morning on cautious market sentiment, with selling mostly seen among the heavyweights, led by Axiata and Digi.

At 9.10 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) erased 4.01 points to 1,608.24 from Friday’s close of 1,612.25.

The index opened 1.71 points higher at 1,613.96.

On the broader market, gainers led losers 261 to 233, while 1,051 counters were unchanged, 612 untraded and nine others suspended.

Total volume stood at 953.78 million shares worth RM458.18 million.

A dealer said Axiata and Digi were on a sell-off mode today as the optimism on a merger between the two telco giants subsided.

Digi fell 18 sen to RM4.28 while Axiata contracted 13 sen to RM3.98, dragging the composite index down by a combined 4.95 points.

Meanwhile, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the market sentiment would remain choppy amidst rising COVID-19 cases despite the ongoing vaccine rollout, coupled with the development on the new wave of COVID-19 cases in some countries, including in Europe and Asia.

“Given the new wave of COVID-19 cases in certain countries, we reckon investors may refocus on the healthcare stocks,” it said in a note.

Meanwhile, the research house says the FBM KLCI may trend higher for the week, with resistance level pegged at between 1,615 and 1,635, while the support level is set at between 1,565 and 1,575.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank rose two sen to RM8.31, Public Bank added one sen to RM4.21, while Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM7.83.

Tenaga and IHH Healthcare lost two sen each to RM10.22 and RM5.28, respectively.

Among the active counters, Lion Industries was unchanged at 88 sen, Daya Material and Luster Industries perked one sen each to 25 sen and 26.5 sen, respectively, while Ucrest gained 1.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index went down 19.36 points to 11,879.56, the FBMT 100 decreased 18.31 points to 11,528.25, the FBM Emas Shariah contracted 24.8 points to 13,256.36 and the FBM ACE fell 38.48 points to 9,957.06.

However, the FBM 70 edged up 14.86 points to 15,801.83.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.39 of-a-point to 193.95, the Plantation Index bagged 5.51 points to 6,989.14, while the Financial Services Index fell 15.97 points to 15,197.86.

Source: TheEdgeMarkets