Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped to 1,406 from bouts of profit-taking after a solid show over the past few days.

“For today, we reckon sentiment to turn cautious as regional markets may see mixed performances, thus expect the index to hover within the 1,400-1,410 range,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, he said crude oil prices declined following China’s economic slowdown, with Brent crude closing below US$79 (RM353.68) per barrel.

“Therefore, we may see the oil and gas sector experiencing some headwinds today,” he added.

At 9.06am, the FBM KLCI rose 0.04 of-a-point to 1,406.14 from 1,406.10 at yesterday’s close.

The key index opened 1.44 points firmer at 1,407.54.

The broader market was positive as advancers beat decliners 146 to 144, while 255 counters were unchanged, 1,741 untraded and 14 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 237.03 million units worth RM81.68 million.

Among the heavyweights, IHH Healthcare gained 3 sen to RM5.83, Public Bank and CIMB were unchanged at RM3.99 and RM5.29, respectively, while Maybank shed 2 sen to RM8.83 and Tenaga Nasional slid 1 sen to RM9.12.

Of the actives, Classita Holdings improved 2.5 sen to 25 sen, Advance Synergy increased 1 sen to 17.5 sen, UEM Sunrise added 0.5 sen to 39 sen, while Tanco was flat at 55.5 sen and Ta Win slipped 0.5 sen to 4.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index ticked up 1.78 points to 10,416.84, the FBMT 100 Index was 1.56 points higher at 10,096.77, the FBM 70 Index climbed 7.55 points to 13,906.26, the FBM Emas Shariah Index was up 9.75 points to 10,696.21, and the FBM ACE Index advanced 4.77 points to 5,339.41.

Sector-wise, the financial services index gave up 23.69 points to 15,729.9, the industrial products and services index inched down 0.04 of-a-point to 161.52, while the plantation index climbed 26.28 points to 6,905.1 and the energy index strengthened 1.13 points to 813.62.