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Bursa opens lower as investors continue to cash in on blue chips

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FBM KLCI drops 2.86 points to 1,417.49 from yesterday’s close as of 9.05am.

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Free Malaysia Today
KUALA LUMPUR: Profit-taking in blue chips following yesterday’s gains dragged Bursa Malaysia’s main index to open lower.

At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 2.86 points to 1,417.49 from yesterday’s close of 1,420.35.

The main index had opened 2.54 points lower at 1,417.81.

Market breadth, however, was positive as gainers beat decliners by 188 to 104, while 203 counters were unchanged, 1,796 untraded, and 75 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 200.86 million units worth RM76.42 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said on Wall Street overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 gained 323 points and 56 points as concerns over the banking sector eased, coupled with expectations that the Federal Reserve may halt its rate hike in May and upbeat United States earnings reports.

The Nasdaq Composite jumped by 210 points while the US 10-year yield remained at 3.57%.

“In line with the improving sentiment, we reckon the ongoing uptrend on the local bourse yesterday to remain intact and expect the index to hover within the 1,420-1,435 range today, with buying interests returning to plantation counters as the crude palm oil price closed at a one-week high above RM3,700 per tonne,” Thong said.

Meanwhile, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said it is monitoring the developments on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s visit to China as traders might speculate on expectations of big investments.

Among the heavyweights, Tenaga Nasional and AMMB lost 2 sen to RM9.12 and RM3.71 respectively.

Maxis, CelcomDigi, CIMB and Telekom Malaysia fell 3 sen each to RM4.00, RM4.25, RM5.28 and RM4.92 respectively.

As for the active counters, Bintai Kinden trimmed 2 sen to 4 sen, YBS International added 4.5 sen to 74.5 sen, Tanco was 0.5 sen higher at 45.5 sen, and Joe Holding was flat at 1.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index eased 3.59 points to 10,384.43, the FBMT 100 Index went down 6.76 points to 10,076.61 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 6.00 points to 10,693.08.

The FBM 70 Index was 46.99 points higher at 13,457.30 while the FBM ACE Index improved by 28.77 points to 5,238.73.

Sector-wise, the financial services index shed 9.41 points to 15,679.77, the energy index gained 1.32 points to 833.57, the industrial products and services index inched up 0.93 of-a-point to 169.70 and the plantation index rose 3.14 points to 6,683.71.

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