Malaysian Stock Market Opens Marginally Lower

KUALA LUMPUR, July 12 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian stock market (Bursa Malaysia) reversed Wednesday’s gains to open marginally lower on Thursday morning as weak market sentiment curbed investors’ risk appetite. At 9.09 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.49 of-a-point easier at 1,688.28 from Wednesday's close of 1,688.77. The barometer index opened 0.52 of-a-point better at 1,689.29. Sentiment in the market was clouded by the unfavourable overnight Wall Street performance coupled with a sharp drop in crude oil prices. A dealer said the trade war tensions dragged on commodities markets, causing benchmark Brent crude to plunge by US$5.46, or more than six per cent, to US$73.40 per barrel. Meanwhile, Maybank IB Research Analyst Nik Ihsan Raja Abdullah said the FBM KLCI would come under pressure today amid the selloff on Wall Street. “The sharp fall in oil price, arising from news that Libya will restore its production and worries over trade war that could hurt oil demand, will also weigh on sentiment. “Technically, we expect the FBM KLCI to trade between 1,680 and 1,720 today. Downside supports are 1,658 and 1,630,” he said in a note. On the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 133 to 93, while 154 counters were unchanged, 1,490 untraded and 19 others suspended. Volume stood at 98.98 million units valued at RM46.94 million. Among heavyweights, Maybank added one sen to RM9.15, while Public Bank and Tenaga rose six sen each to RM22.86 and RM14.56 respectively. CIMB shed four sen to RM5.34, but Petronas Chemicals, IHH Healthcare and Maxis were all flat at RM8.54, RM5.90 and RM5.40 respectively. Among actives, Sapura Energy slipped one sen to 58.5 sen, Dagang Nexchange eased 1.5 sen to 38 sen while Diversified Gateway was flat at 7.5 sen. Nestle (M) was the biggest loser in the opening session, losing RM2.00 to RM145.90, while KLK topped the gainers list in bagging 36 sen to RM24.44. The FBM Emas Index declined 13.47 points to 11,875.28, the FBMT 100 Index dropped 12.03 points to 11,686.39 and the FBM 70 fell 47 points to 14,354.58. The FBM Emas Shariah Index shed 14.07 points to 11,992.43 and the FBM Ace Index slipped 0.19 of-a-point to 5,215.44. Sector-wise, the Finance Index was 24.64 points lower at 16,536.21, the Industrial Index trimmed 5.79 points to 3,138.54, but the Plantation Index rose 6.59 points to 7,518.44. -- BERNAMA