Malaysian Stock Market Opens Lower

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian stock market (Bursa Malaysia) opened lower Tuesday as the mood across markets remained unsettled on concerns over a further escalation in trade tensions between the US and China. At 9.05 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 6.64 points easier at 1,736.79 from Monday's close of 1,743.43. The index opened 5.23 points lower at 1,738.20. On the broader market, losers led gainers 118 to 109, while 132 counters were unchanged, 1,550 untraded and 24 others suspended. Volume stood at 61.19 million units valued at RM31.44 million. In a note today, Public Investment Bank Bhd said the local bourse was easier in the morning session as it was tracking global stocks which started the week on the back foot due to the trade tension. Meanwhile, Maybank Investment Bank Bhd expects the market to possibly succumb to another round of selling on the trade tensions, but, opined that oil and gas stocks may attract some limelight after crude oil prices rose. "Technically, we expect the FBM KLCI to trade between 1,709 and 1,760 points today, with downside supports at the 1,709 and 1,690 levels," it said. For heavyweights on Bursa, Maybank slid two sen to RM9.53, Public Bank declined 16 sen to RM23.84, Tenaga was four sen lower at RM14.28, while Petronas Chemicals bagged one sen to RM8.39 and CIMB was flat at RM5.90. Among actives, Kretam gained 2.5 sen to 48.5 sen, Priceworth International rose 1.5 sen to 25.5 sen, MyEG inched up half-a-sen to 97 sen, while Malaysia Pacific Corp lost 5.5 sen to five sen and Multi Sports was half-a-sen easier at 1.5 sen. Nestle led the top losers list by giving up 80 sen to RM146.20, followed by BAT which fell 56 sen to RM35.20, F&N lost 36 sen for RM37.16, PPB eased 28 sen to RM19.30 and Panasonic Manufacturing was 26 sen weaker at RM38.12. The FBM Emas Index shed 37.38 points to 12,229.20, the FBM70 was 22.30 points lower at 14,721.38, the FBMT100 Index slid 39.08 points to 12,013.01 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 39.19 points to 12,286.26. The FBM Ace Index advanced 2.31 points to 5,322.69. Sector-wise, the Finance Index dropped 59.91 points to 17,311.75, the Industrial Index lost 16.75 points to 3,135.95 and the Plantation Index fell 9.12 points to 7,662.62. -- BERNAMA