Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd head of research Kenny Yee Shen Pin said funds have recently turned net buyers, which is a positive sign for the local bourse.

“As such, the index is expected to trend within the 1,610–1,625 range today,” he told Bernama.

At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 10.81 points to 1,600.89 from yesterday’s close of 1,611.70.

The index opened 4.84 points weaker at 1,606.86.

On the broader market, gainers led decliners 163 to 155, while 303 counters were unchanged, with 2,015 untraded and seven suspended.

Turnover stood at 133.86 million units worth RM89.66 million.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank fell 2 sen each to RM9.92 and RM4.28, respectively.

CIMB dropped 3 sen to RM4.28, Tenaga fell 8 sen to RM13.36 and IHH shed 7 sen to RM7.29.

In active trade, Notion rose 3.5 sen to 59.5 sen, MCLean bagged 4 sen to 50.5 sen, Pharmaniaga added 0.5 sen to 28 sen, L&P Global gained 1 sen to 12.5 sen and Perak Transit inched down 0.5 sen to 68.5 sen.

Top losers are Nestle, which reduced 84 sen to RM97.06, Petronas Dagangan slid 72 sen to RM22.26, Hexza contracted 8 sen to 88 sen, Ralco trimmed 7.5 sen to 92 sen and Petronas Gas weakened 6 sen to RM18.24.

Among the top gainers were Allianz, which climbed 58 sen to RM19.08, Formosa increased 18 sen to RM1.63, CI Holdings strengthened 16 sen to RM2.74, KL Kepong firmed 14 sen to RM20.22 and Kluang Rubber put on 10 sen to RM5.70.

On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index gave up 51.60 points to 11,892.39, the FBMT 100 Index shed 55.60 points to 11,644.64 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 26.89 points to 11,909.51.

The FBM 70 Index climbed 22.28 points to 16,642.38, while the FBM ACE Index was 13.28 points lower at 4,836.75.

By sector, the industrial products and services index edged down 0.59 of-a-point to 166.96, the plantation index advanced 9.66 points to 7,743.86 and the financial services index lost 116.01 points to 18,126.13. The energy index gained 1.40 points to 752.14.