KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened broadly lower this morning due to the lack of positive catalysts.
At 9.06 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 11.69 points to 1,518.46 from Wednesday's close of 1,530.15.
The market bellwether opened 4.25 points lower at 1,525.9.
On the broader market, losers led gainers 482 to 61, while 196 counters were unchanged, 1,449 untraded and 10 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 505.69 million units valued at RM208.95 billion.
Malacca Securities said it expected the ongoing lockdown in several localities – coupled with the COVID-19 status in Malaysia – to continue to weigh on the local bourse.
"There are several developments in the political scene which may contribute to volatility in the markets," the brokerage said in a research note today.
It added that the technology sector may extend its uptrend in line with the positive performance on the Nasdaq.
"Additionally, investors may look out for glove stocks for shorter-term trade, given that the COVID-19 confirmed cases have remained elevated," said Malacca Securities.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank fell two sen to RM8.04 and RM4.06, respectively, Petronas Chemicals trimmed eight sen to RM8.01, TNB fell four sen to RM9.67, IHH Healthcare shed nine sen to RM5.53 and CIMB declined three sen to RM4.57.
Of the actives, Advance Synergy added one sen to 17 sen, T7 Global increased 1.5 sen to 38 sen and Pelangi Publishing advanced 7.5 sen to 44 sen, while KNM was flat at 17 sen, Serba Dinamik inched down half-a-sen to 47.5 sen and Dagang Nexchange slid two sen to 69 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 90.34 points easier at 11,075.78, the FBMT 100 Index discounted 86.71 points to 10,780.79, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index narrowed 108.02 points to 12,105.7.
The FBM ACE reduced 148.82 points to 7,290.92, and the FBM 70 slipped 130.24 points to 14,377.85.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index fell 60.16 points to 14,990.05, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 2.22 points to 188.0, and the Plantation Index was 33.25 points easier at 6,339.69. --BERNAMA
