<img loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2844454" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/56706c32-bursa-down-new-logo-2-fmt-210824.webp" alt="bursa lower" width="1600" height="1000" />KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened lower today, tracking the overnight losses on Wall Street, with sentiment affected by the ongoing spat between US President Donald Trump and businessman Elon Musk.
At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 2.78 points lower at 1,515.34 from yesterday’s close of 1,518.12.
The benchmark index opened at 1,516.91, less 1.21 points.
Market breadth was negative, with decliners outpacing gainers 207 to 84.
A total of 243 counters were unchanged, 1,812 untraded and 20 suspended.
Turnover stood at 119.92 million units valued at RM70.92 million.
Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said all eyes were on China’s President Xi Jinping-Trump&#8217;s phone call, which was deemed &#8220;very good&#8221; by Trump and that a meeting between the two may be held soon.
On the flipside, the latest job data showed a slowing labour market as the US 10-year treasury yield edged slightly higher at 4.39%.
Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index continued to climb as sentiment was boosted by China’s purchasing managers&#8217; index (PMI) for May that beat consensus, allaying fears of an economic slowdown.
On the home front, the FBM KLCI almost reached the 1,520 mark yesterday, possibly due to more aggressive stock accumulation by local institutions.
&#8220;We were surprised by this sudden strong buying interest after a lacklustre display over the past month.
&#8220;For today, we expect the index to hover within the 1,515-1,530 range,&#8221; Thong told Bernama.
Among the heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals and Press Metal Aluminium eased 5 sen each to RM3.31 and RM4.98, Sime Darby shed 2 sen to RM1.73, YTL Corp dropped 2 sen to RM2.01 and Tenaga Nasional was 8 sen weaker at RM14.12.
Among the most active stocks, Green Packet and Avangaad were both flat at 2.5 sen and 28 sen, Jaks Resources fell 0.5 sen to 10.5 sen, Autocount Dotcom was 11 sen lower at RM1.07 and Thriven Global shed 2.5 sen to 10.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lost 22.75 points to 11,340.08, the FBMT 100 Index slid 21.90 points to 11,0106.46 and the FBM ACE Index decreased 21.99 points to 4,496.15.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 29.32 points to 11,311.42, while the FBM 70 Index gave up 37.93 points to 16,245.38.
Sector-wise, the financial services index trimmed 8.92 points to 17,730.65, the Industrial products and services index was down 0.99 of a point to 151.13, the plantation index shed 6.01 points to 7,213.37, but the energy index increased 0.27 of a point to 708.88.

MatchPoint Times

Bursa lower at opening, tracking Wall Street losses

The ongoing spat between US President Donald Trump and businessman Elon Musk has affected market sentiment.

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