Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street resumed trading on a weak note as the Federal Reserve’s minutes indicated that there will be more rate hikes ahead, despite recent data showing a weaker-than-expected factory order in May.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.38% overnight while the Nasdaq declined 0.18% as the US 10-year yield inched closer to the 4% level at 3.934%.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index tumbled 1.11% this morning following a downgrade on several major banks by Goldman Sachs.
“Sentiment deteriorated further as the ongoing US and China spat within the tech sector may hinder the development of the industry,” he told Bernama.
Back home, Thong said the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) closed lower yesterday as selling intensified towards the closing.
“It is interesting to note that the plantation stocks are quietly sustaining the uptrend to a one-month high reflecting the recent rebound in crude palm oil prices currently above the RM3,900 per tonne mark or a three-month high.
“Although the date for the state polls set on Aug 12 may alleviate some degree of uncertainties to the market, we reckon sentiment will remain cautious, thus, expect the index to trend within the 1,385-1,405 range today,” he added.
At 9.10am, the FBM KLCI slid 2.9 points to 1,387.00 from 1,389.90 at yesterday’s close.
The key index opened 0.19 of-a-point lower at 1,389.71.
The broader market was negative as decliners surpassed advancers 167 to 115, while 227 counters were unchanged, 1,737 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 168.75 million units worth RM84.15 million.
Among heavyweights, IHH Healthcare added 1 sen to RM5.84, Maybank lost 1 sen to RM8.69, Public Bank slid 3 sen to RM3.87, CIMB went down 2 sen to RM5.16, and Tenaga Nasional declined 4 sen to RM9.04.
Of the actives, Jade Marvel increased 1.5 sen to 22.5 sen, Artroniq trimmed 5.5 sen to 72 sen, while Tanco, Cypark Resources and Sarawak Consolidated were all flat at 52.5 sen, 80.5 sen and 47.5 sen respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index edged down 17.71 points to 10,233.81, the FBMT 100 Index was 17.84 points lower at 9,927.55, the FBM ACE Index added 4.02 points to 5,169.39, the FBM 70 Index narrowed 12.05 points to 13,539.42, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 17.79 points to 10,513.54.
Sector-wise, the financial services index weakened by 25.02 points to 15,439.51, the energy index erased 1.16 points to 797.01, the plantation index slipped 31.41 points to 6,884.76, and the industrial products and services index eased 0.66 of-a-point to 158.31.