KUALA LUMPUR (April 16): Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Tuesday, taking a cue from the negative developments on Wall Street overnight due to escalating tensions in the Middle East, coupled with persistent inflation in the US as indicated by stronger-than-expected March retail sales.

At 9.15am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 2.70 points to 1,539.83 from Monday's close of 1,542.53.

The benchmark index opened 1.45 points easier at 1,541.08.

On the broader market, decliners led gainers 521 to 92, while 266 counters were unchanged, 1,473 untraded and 11 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 463.03 million units worth RM191.62 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said that as a result of the latest retail sales print, the US 10-year Treasury yield ended at almost a six-month high of 4.61%.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 248 points lower on Monday while the Nasdaq declined by 290 points.

“Back home, the FBM KLCI fell to almost the 1,540 level yesterday amid a weak regional performance attributed to heightened tensions in the Middle East.

“Selling on the local bourse was broad-based as none of the sectors was spared. In the event of prevailing support at the 1,540 mark is smashed decisively, the next support is seen at around the 1,520 level,” he told Bernama.

Thong said the index is expected to hover within the 1,540-1,550 range Tuesday.

Among heavyweights, Maybank inched down one sen to RM9.64, Tenaga Nasional fell four sen to RM11.56, and Petronas Chemicals slipped five sen to RM6.75.

Meanwhile, Public Bank was flat at RM4.12 while CIMB was similarly flat at RM6.58. 

As for the actives, Ingenieur Gudang added 1.5 sen to 15.5 sen, TWL trimmed half-a-sen to three sen, and Dagang NeXchange shed one sen to 40 sen, while Harvest Miracle Capital was flat at 11.5 sen. Hong Seng Consolidated was also flat at one sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased by 42.46 points to 11,557.74, the FBMT 100 Index fell 35.43 points to 11,203.63, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 49.16 points to 11,707.42, the FBM ACE Index dropped 37.37 points to 4,959.10, and the FBM 70 Index shed 115.43 points to 16,044.42.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index reduced 26.131 points to 17,143.02, the Plantation Index shed 26.38 points to 7,406.24, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.97 of-a-point to 182.85, and the Energy Index gave up 3.44 points to 963.05.

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/node/708049