At 9.22am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched up 0.20 of-a-point to 1,611.63 from yesterday’s close of 1,611.43.
The index opened 1.22 points higher at 1,612.65.
Market breadth was positive, with gainers leading losers 279 to 174, while 377 counters were unchanged, 1,646 untraded, and 13 suspended.
Turnover amounted to 306.86 million units valued at RM134.20 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said China’s latest investigation on Nvidia for antimonopoly violation exacerbated the market’s decline.
“The US 10-year yield edged higher to 4.201%. Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index surged past the 20,000 mark after China’s top policymaker alluded to more easing measures to boost domestic demand days before the key economic policy meeting,” he added.
Back home, he remains hopeful for buying support to emerge today and that the benchmark index still has the legs to climb higher.
“Net foreign inflows of RM2.5 billion were recorded last week, hence, foreign selling may be at its tail-end. We expect the index to hover between the 1,610-1,620 range today with 1,600 as a solid psychological support level for now,” he added.
Among heavyweights, CIMB added 1.0 sen to RM8.19, Tenaga Nasional went up 4.0 sen to RM13.86, IHH Healthcare eased 2.0 sen to RM7.40, while Maybank and Public Bank were flat at RM10.10 and RM4.54, respectively.
As for the active stocks, JCY International edged up half-a-sen to 48.5 sen, Supreme Consolidated Resources slid 1.5 sen to 28 sen, while Alam Maritim Resources, Awanbiru Technology, and Malayan United Industries were flat at 3.0 sen, 35.5 sen, and 6.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index improved 10.05 points to 12,341.59, the FBMT 100 Index rose 9.11 points to 12,024.83, the FBM 70 Index expanded 41.97 points up to 18,429.43, the FBM Emas Shariah Index put on 15.10 points to 12,350.31, and the FBM ACE Index increased by 10.03 points to 5,276.85.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index was 8.51 points better at 19,113.05, the Plantation Index jumped 5.86 points to 7,757.70, the Industrial Products and Services Index bagged 0.23 of-a-point to 174.91, and the Energy Index perked up 1.97 points to 825.29.