KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia continued to be under pressure as Wall Street closed on a downbeat note following the latest economic data showing weaker business confidence.
At 9.18 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 5.82 points to 1,448.37 from Tuesday’s closing of 1,454.19.
The index opened 0.19 of-a-point higher at 1,454.38.
Market breadth was negative with decliners thumping advancers 297 to 168, while 245 counters were unchanged, 1,493 untraded, and 20 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 413.70 million units worth RM144.17 million.
Meanwhile, in the United States (US), the Conference Board consumer confidence index declined again in February to 102.9 from 106.0 in January, prompting more hawkish Federal Reserve bets.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said this has caused a volatile trading session with the overnight Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 232 points, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped by 11 points.
‘’Although there were some accumulations on banking stocks following the latest solid earnings reports, the overall sentiment remained rather cold.
‘’We reckon the local bourse will remain stuck in a consolidation mode amid the uncertainties in the US, hence, expect the index to hover within the 1,450-1,460 range today,” he said.
Among heavyweights, IHH eased 10 sen to RM5.69, MISC slid 15 sen to RM7.41, Press Metal was seven sen lower at RM5.09, Tenaga Nasional fell 10 sen to RM9.27, and IOI eased eight sen to RM3.75.
As for active stocks, Icon Offshore slipped three sen to 9.0 sen, while Velesto and Pharmaniaga lost one sen each to 18 sen and 26 sen respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index trimmed 41.28 points to 10,537.85, the FBMT 100 Index slid 40.95 points to 10,230.51, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 64.27 points to 10,733.40, the FBM 70 Index gave up 52.90 points to 13,383.73 while the FBM ACE Index improved 37.63 points to 5,395.73.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 19.76 points to 16,175.07, the Energy Index decreased 5.51 points to 838.06, the Plantation Index shed 31.83 points to 6,734.81, and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.28 points to 176.15. – BERNAMA
