BURSA MALAYSIA OPENS LOWER, TRACKING WALL STREET'S WEAKER PERFORMANCE

KUALA LUMPUR, April 11 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia retreated from yesterday’s gains to open lower on Friday, taking its cue from Wall Street’s weaker performance amid renewed worries over the global trade outlook.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 2.5 per cent to 39,593.66. The S&P 500 eased 3.4 per cent to 5,268.05, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 4.31 per cent to 16,387.31.

At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 25.95 points, or 1.77 per cent, to 1,437.18 from yesterday’s close at 1,463.13.

The benchmark index opened 21.47 points lower at 1,441.66.

Market breadth was negative, with decliners thumping gainers 435 to 61. A total of 196 counters were unchanged, 1,673 untraded and nine suspended.

Turnover stood at 151.36 million shares, valued at RM127.40 million.

In a note, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said US equities closed broadly lower as traders realised that President Donald Trump’s 90-day tariff pause is only temporary a reprieve and that the major trade war with China is still ongoing.

“We believe an all-out trade war between China and the US is still ongoing; hence, the market undertone remains uncertain.

“On the home front, although we expect bargain hunting activities to continue, prevailing market volatility may be a huge headwind for any meaningful uptrend,” it said, adding that the FBM KLCI is likely to hover within the 1,460-1,480 range today.

Among heavyweights, Maybank dropped 17 sen to RM9.82, Public Bank eased eight sen to RM4.17, Tenaga Nasional slipped 26 sen to RM13.04, CIMB lost 30 sen to RM6.61 and IHH Healthcare went down nine sen to RM6.71.

In active trade, Velesto Energy and SumiSaujana both lost half-a-sen to 14 sen and 18.5 sen, respectively. MYEG trimmed one sen to 82.5 sen, Nationgate shed four sen to RM1.15, while Aumas rose 3.5 sen to 67 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gave up 198.28 points, falling to 10,644.13.00. The FBMT 100 Index shed 199.40 points to 10,441.40, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 160.91 points to 10,407.91.

The FBM 70 Index shaved 328.17 points to 14,906.96, while the FBM ACE Index eased 39.06 points to 4,330.67.

Across sectors, the Financial Services Index dropped 381.63 points to 17,382.58, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 1.95 points to 136.85, the Energy Index weakened 18.89 points to 641.05, and the Plantation Index reduced 60.90 points to 6,984.99.

-- BERNAMA