Coupled with a decline on Wall Street, the cautious mood kept the pressure on the local bourse, leading to a 1.82-point drop in the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) at the opening bell.
By 9.05am, the index was down 1.86 points to 1,446.52 from yesterday’s close of 1,448.38.
On the broader market, decliners led gainers 133 to 84, while 178 counters were unchanged, 1,937 were not traded and 47 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 118.29 million units worth RM108.44 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the local market tone might stay tepid at least for the near term with the softer market performance on Wall Street.
“The key focus is shifted towards the outcome of GE15, where it is still uncertain which party has the lead at this juncture.
“Investors may favour defensive stocks in the consumer, telecommunications and utilities sectors amid an environment of increased market volatility,” it added.
Meanwhile, buying momentum in steel players following China’s 16-point plan should sustain.
It has been reported that Chinese authorities have unveiled measures to rescue the struggling property sector, whereby the banking regulator and central bank issued a 16-point set of internal directives to promote the “stable and healthy development” of the industry.
Moving forward, the brokerage firm said, broad-based recovery may happen after GE15 as the economy had been improving, as shown by Malaysia’s third-quarter gross domestic product performance.
Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia heavyweights Maybank and Public Bank gained two sen each to RM8.53 and RM4.32, respectively, and CIMB added a sen to RM5.36, while Petronas Chemicals and IHH Healthcare were flat at RM8.62 and RM5.95, respectively.
Among the actives, Advance Synergy and AHB Holdings inched up half-a-sen each to 12.5 sen and 11.5 sen, respectively, and Perdana Petroleum advanced three sen to 12 sen. Icon Offshore and Eduspec Holdings were flat at 14 sen and two sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Shariah Index weakened 24.61 points to 10,428.20, the FBM Emas Index trimmed 11.76 points to 10,283.20, the FBM ACE shrank 20.70 points to 4,976.47, the FBMT 100 Index gave up 13.61 points to 10,010.25, and the FBM 70 lost 19.71 points to 12,234.34.
Sector-wise, the energy index edged up 0.01 of-a-point to 720.11, the financial services index climbed 17.39 points to 16,106.70 and the industrial products and services index inched up by 0.04 of-a-point to 178.81, while the plantation index slipped by 1.46 points to 6,900.74.
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