The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) opened at 1,452.23 points, or 1.96 points down from yesterday’s close of 1,454.19.
Eighteen minutes into the day’s trading, it dipped by another 3.86 points to settle at 1,448.37 points.
On the broader market, losers had outnumbered gainers 297 to 168, but 245 counters were unchanged, 1,493 were not traded, and 20 others were suspended.
Turnover stood at 413.70 million units worth RM144.17 million.
In the US, the Conference Board consumer confidence index declined again in February to 102.9 from 106.0 in January, prompting more hawkish Federal Reserve bets.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said this had caused a volatile trading session with the overnight Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 232 points, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped by 11 points.
“Although there were some accumulations on banking stocks following the latest solid earnings reports, the overall sentiment remained rather cold,” he said.
‘’We reckon the local bourse will remain stuck in a consolidation mode amid the uncertainties in the US, hence, expect the index to hover within the 1,450 and 1,460 range today,” he added.
Among heavyweights, IHH eased 10 sen to RM5.69, MISC slid 15 sen to RM7.41, Press Metal was seven sen lower at RM5.09, Tenaga Nasional fell 10 sen to RM9.27, and IOI eased eight sen to RM3.75.
As for active stocks, Icon Offshore slipped three sen to nine sen, while Velesto and Pharmaniaga lost a sen each to 18 sen and 26 sen respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index trimmed 41.28 points to 10,537.85, the FBMT 100 Index slid 40.95 points to 10,230.51, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 64.27 points to 10,733.40, the FBM 70 Index gave up 52.90 points to 13,383.73 while the FBM ACE Index improved 37.63 points to 5,395.73.
Sector-wise, the financial services index dropped 19.76 points to 16,175.07, the energy index decreased 5.51 points to 838.06, the plantation index shed 31.83 points to 6,734.81, and the industrial products and services index eased 1.28 points to 176.15.