KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened slightly higher but retreated thereafter on continued selling among its heavyweights amid mixed sentiments on the Asian market. 

At 9.17 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) decreased by 2.51 points to 1,399.97 from 1,402.48 at yesterday's close.

The barometer index opened 0.45 of-a-point stronger at 1,402.93.

The broader market saw decliners surpassing advancers 211 to 162, while 232 counters were unchanged, 1,671 untraded and 26 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 287.93 million units worth RM186.64 million.

In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said Malaysia's inflation rate will be in the limelight today.

"The FBM KLCI remained subdued on the back of persistent selling pressure in the banking and plantation heavyweights.

"We believe bargain hunting activities may emerge on the local bourse as the United States' economy showed no signs of recession following the release of higher-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP) data for the first quarter of 2023," it said. 

As for commodities, the brokerage said Brent crude oil price decreased to US$76 and the crude palm oil price stood above RM3,500 per tonne, while gold price pulled back further towards US$1,940 per ounce.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank increased 3.0 sen each to RM8.59 and RM3.92, respectively, and Petronas Chemicals added 1.0 sen to RM6.98, while Tenaga Nasional narrowed 5.0 sen to RM9.53 and CIMB Group was flat at RM4.96. 

As for the active counters, YTL Corporation rose 2.5 sen to 80.5 sen, Revenue Group went up 1.0 sen to 27.5 sen and YTL Power International added 7.0 sen to RM1.22, while Vinvest Capital and Velesto Energy eased half-a-sen each to 6.5 sen and 22.0 sen, respectively. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index went down 22.45 points to 10,261.96, the FBMT 100 Index slid 22.01 points to 9,967.95, the FBM Emas Shariah Index shed 56.34 points to 10,587.76, the FBM 70 Index shaved 46.53 points to 13,378.49 and the FBM ACE Index slipped 40.51 points to 4,903.68.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index lost 0.49 of-a-point to 163.65, the Plantation Index reduced by 96.86 points to 6,708.89 and the Energy Index contracted 5.39 points to 813.37, while the Financial Services Index earned 44.54 points to 15,362.97. 

 - BERNAMA