Bursa Malaysia opens lower

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened lower as losses on regional bourses and weaker oil prices hampered buying sentiment in the local market.

At 9.10 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) lost 15.06 points to 1,695.65 from Monday’s close of 1,710.71, after opening 16.14 points lower at 1,694.57 today.

On the broader market, losers led gainers 388 to 53, with 127 unchanged, 1,313 untraded and 31 others suspended.

Volume stood at 185.0 million units valued at RM110.41 million.

A dealer said the FBM KLCI opened lower due to extreme turbulence across financial markets, which saw global equities sell off sharply, and declining oil prices.

“The decline in the local market was in line with regional bourses. Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 1.24 per cent to 3,026.99, the Jakarta Composite Index was 0.12 per cent lower at 6,005.3 and the Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 2.02 per cent to 25,840.34.

“The oil price slump also affected buying sentiment with the international benchmark falling 6.4 per cent to US$62.53 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures down 6.6 per cent at US$53.43 per barrel,” he added.

Among heavyweights, Maybank fell eight sen to RM9.42, Public Bank declined 14 sen to RM24.86, Tenaga was 16 sen weaker at RM14.70 and Petronas Chemicals rose four sen to RM9.34.

Of actives, Sumatec was flat at 2.5 sen, Hibiscus Petroleum eased six sen to RM1 and Dagang Nexchange lost two sen to 35 sen.

Meanwhile, LEAP Market debutant Topvision Eye Specialist Bhd’s share price stood at 23 sen, a premium of five sen from its issue price of 18 sen, with 130,000 shares traded.

The FBM Emas Index lost 117.01 points to 11,781.95, the FBMT 100 Index declined 112.6 points to 11,626.9, the FBM 70 shed 170.53 points to 13,866.25 and the FBM Ace Index was 83.31 points weaker at 4,891.77.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 123.6 points to 11,830.46.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index was 115.77 points lower at 17,335.57, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.75 point to 173.26 and the Plantation Index was 36.62 points weaker at 7,214.65.

Gold futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives opened higher with one contract month traded on buying interest, dealers said.

At 9.37 am, December 2018 rose 12 ticks to RM165.00 per gramme.

November 2018, January 2019 and February 2019 were untraded at RM164.40, RM164.50 and RM164.60 per gramme respectively.

Volume was at five lots, while open interest amounted to 33 contracts.

At 9.30 am, the price of physical gold was up 39 sen at RM159.31 per gramme. — Bernama

Source: TheSunDaily