Bursa Malaysia opens mixed, CI remains above 1,600

KUALA LUMPUR (April 16): Bursa Malaysia reversed yesterday’s mixed performance, with its key index falling in early trade today despite a positive broader market as profit-taking emerged ahead of the weekend, dealers said.

At 9.04am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 3.89 points to 1,604.36 from Thursday’s close of 1,608.25.

The index opened 0.81 of-a-point weaker at 1,607.44.

Rubber gloves were mostly down this morning as investors booked some profit following their strong rebound yesterday with Top Glove Corp Bhd falling six sen to RM5.38, Hartalega Holdings Bhd lost 11 sen to RM9.89, and Supermax Corp Bhd decreased 10 sen to RM5.

On the broader market, gainers, however, surpassed losers 231 to 158, while 1,470 counters were unchanged, 320 untraded and 27 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 827.88 million shares worth RM423.2 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, in a note, said although the key index might trend higher in line with overnight gains on Wall Street, concerns over a possible fourth wave of Covid-19 infections hitting the country might continue to dampen investors’ sentiment with the daily confirmed cases breaching the 2,000 mark yesterday.

The FBM KLCI, however, ended higher yesterday, powered by buying interest in glove counters as global Covid-19 cases ticked higher.

“We expect to see a follow-through buying interest in the glove counters, given the rising Covid-19 daily confirmed cases in the country and across the globe.

“Besides, the positive sentiment in Nasdaq that surpassed the 14,000 level may spill over to the technology stocks on the local front,” it said.

Wall Street ended firmer on Thursday with S&P 500 ending at an all-time high and the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed above the 34,000 mark for the first time, thanks to strong earnings and upbeat economic data.

Back home, of the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd slipped one sen to RM8.29, Public Bank Bhd trimmed two sen to RM4.21, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd shed five sen to RM7.86, while Tenaga Nasional Bhd and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd were flat at RM10.12 and RM5.35, respectively.

Among the active counters, Lambo Group Bhd was flat at two sen, Jadi Imaging Holdings Bhd and G3 Global Bhd inched down one sen each to 11 sen and 20.5 sen, respectively, and WZ Satu Bhd bagged four sen to 20 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 10.57 points lower at 11,841.26, the FBM Emas Shariah declined 6.2 points to 13,245.25, the FBMT 100 erased 14.1 points to 11,494.75, and the FBM ACE fell 30.14 points to 8,833.16.

However, the FBM 70 earned 33.81 points to 15,734.2.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index gave up 5.39 points for 6,924.98, the Financial Services Index fell 18.77 points to 15,091.31, while the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.01 of-a-point to 196.42.

Source: TheEdgeMarkets