KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 — Bursa Malaysia opened higher and retreated thereafter on Wednesday on profit-taking, coupled with subdued overnight Wall Street performance.
At 9.07 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.45 of-a-point to 1,605.69 from 1,606.14 at Tuesday’s close.
The index opened 3.37 points higher at 1,609.51.
On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 302 to 225, while 359 counters were unchanged, 1,282 untraded and 10 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 585.24 million units worth RM260.31 million.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 index eased 0.06 per cent, the Dow Jones rose 0.2 per cent, and Nasdaq trimmed 0.34 per cent.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, in a note, said it believes sentiment should stay positive, despite the mixed trading tone on Wall Street and the movement control order (MCO) extension in several states.
"We think the ongoing rally in the crude oil price and the clearer timeline for the COVID-19 vaccination programme should be the focus for the economy to recover moving forward.
"As we are heading into the reporting season, companies with high earnings certainty could be in the limelight,” it said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank eased seven sen to RM8.07, PChem trimmed five sen to RM7.70, while IHH Healthcare was flat at RM5.10.
Meanwhile, Public Bank gained two sen to RM4.24 and Tenaga added five sen to RM9.95.
Of the actives, DGB Asia, Sapura Energy, Velesto and Techna-X improved one sen each to 15.5 sen, 14.5 sen, 16 sen and 17 sen, respectively, while Dagang Nexchange and Icon Offshore rose half-a-sen each to 54.5 sen and 13 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index receded 4.32 points to 11,745.68, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 6.17 points to 11,441.32, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 12.4 points higher at 13,194.56.
The FBM 70 eased 19.84 points to 15,418.45, and the FBM ACE decreased 78.22 points to 11,273.9.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index trimmed 51.23 points to 15,138.51, the Industrial Products and Services Index decreased 0.32 of-a-point to 183.97, while the Plantation Index inched up 9.42 points to 7,123.68.
— Bernama
