Bursa slides as Wall Street sours
Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Friday, following Wall Street’s losses overnight. At 9.10 a.m., the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dropped 5.28 points to 1,608.92 after starting the day 4.31 points down at 1,609.89.
Market breadth leaned negative, with 197 decliners against 112 advancers. Another 263 stocks held steady, 2,097 saw no trades, and 60 were suspended. Turnover totaled 147.02 million shares valued at RM63.60 million. Rakuten Trade vice president Thong Pak Leng cited weak US corporate earnings as the main drag. He noted declines in the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq but said US-China trade progress and hopes for a dovish Federal Reserve offered some support. He expects the index to trade between 1,610 and 1,620.
Heavyweights showed mixed moves. Maybank and Public Bank each lost one sen, while CIMB Group gained four sen. Tenaga Nasional fell four sen, and IHH Healthcare rose three sen. Perak Transit and Revenue Group led the active losers, both down half a sen. Malaysian Pacific topped gainers, jumping 22 sen. MISC and Chin Teck Plantations were among the biggest decliners. Sector indices mostly retreated, led by the financial services and plantation sectors.
