A dealer attributed the decline to the concerns over aggressive monetary policy tightening that was fuelled by the strong US jobs data. The concerns also led to a global stock market decline overnight.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) had lost 15.14 points to 1,496.91 from Tuesday’s close of 1,512.05 just eight minutes into the new day’s trading.
The benchmark index opened 14.04 points lower at 1,498.01.
Bursa Malaysia and its subsidiaries were closed yesterday for the Merdeka Day holiday.
On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 286 to 96, while 216 counters were unchanged, 1,690 not traded and 20 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 232.37 million units worth RM134.28 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said that although Bursa Malaysia’s key index managed to trade positively on Tuesday, investors should remain cautious in light of the ongoing volatility in global stock markets due to the US Federal Reserve’s hawkish tone.
“We expect the noise to continue until the next consumer price index data release and the Federal Reserve open market committee meeting,” the brokerage firm said.
On commodities, it noted that crude oil price trended lower at around US$96 per barrel due to fears over the global economic slowdown, while crude palm oil price hovered above RM4,100.
“As for sectors in focus, the technology sector should see some selling pressure as the Nasdaq fell below the key 12,000-level, and investors may take profit in the energy sector as crude oil price slumped amid worries over softer demand.
“Nevertheless, stocks with solid earnings will be in focus, at least for the near term,” it added.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank shed four sen to RM8.93, Public Bank slipped six sen to RM4.65 and Petronas Chemicals fell 15 sen to RM8.65.
CIMB added three sen to RM5.40, while IHH Healthcare was flat at RM6.20.
Of the actives, Hibiscus eased four sen to RM1.02 and UMedic added 1.5 sen to 69 sen, while MNC Wireless, Serba Dinamik and TA Win were flat at one sen, three sen and seven sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 99.98 points to 10,597.67, the FBMT 100 Index declined 100.44 points to 10,348.99, the FBM 70 slipped 105.26 points to 12,607.18, the FBM ACE went down 56.42 points to 4,854.02 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 122.24 points to 10,691.22.
Sector-wise, the plantation index was 39.32 points lower at 7,154.35, the industrial products and services index eased 2.18 points to 180.02, the energy index shed 11.59 points to 716.95 and the financial services index dropped 101.68 points to 16,700.24.
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