Malaysian Stock Market Opens Marginally Higher But Retreats Thereafter

KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 (Bernama) -- Malaysian stock market (Bursa Malaysia) opened marginally higher but retreated thereafter in the absence of lacklustre appetite following the weak overnight performance on Wall Street, dealers said. At 9.12 am, the FBM KLCI stood at 1,725.48, down 1.88 points, from Monday's close of 1,727.36. The index opened 0.29 of-a-point higher at 1,727.65. On the broader market, gainers led losers 179 to 97, with 247 counters unchanged, 1,172 untraded and 14 others were suspended. Turnover stood at 260.65 million shares worth RM100.49 million. Public Investment Bank Bhd, in a note, said the FBM KLCI was set to open lower today after global equities sold off overnight, encouraging flows into sovereign debt. On Wall Street, Public Bank said US equity benchmarks closed down, but off session lows, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average finishing 51.37 points or 0.2 per cent lower at 20,954.34, its first close below 21,000 since clearing the milestone on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the investment bank said the S&P 500 index declined 7.81 points to finish at 2,375.31 and the Nasdaq Composite Index finished 21.58 points easier at 5,849.17, overcoming an earlier 43-point deficit. The FBM Emas Index declined 7.52 points to 12,164.64, the FBMT100 Index was down 7.77 points at 11,842.03 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 7.27 points to 12,555.86 but the FBM 70 gained 10.06 points to 14,110.18 and the FBM Ace edged up 25.41 points to 5,306.21. Sector-wise, the Plantation Index was 6.22 points lower at 8,102.24 and the Industrial Index trimmed 4.64 points to 3,258.03 while the Finance Index increased 3.68 points to 15,491.26. Of heavyweights, Maybank rose two sen to RM8.84, Public Bank and IHH Healthcare eased two sen each to RM19.92 and RM5.93, respectively, Sime Darby was down three sen at RM9.11 and TNB was flat at RM13.68. Of actives, Borneo Oil was flat at 17.5 sen while Hovid was up three sen at 34.5 sen, Wintoni rose 1.5 sen to 4.5 sen, Kronologi Asia improved two sen to 39 sen and Dagang Nexchange declined half-a-sen to 40.5 sen. -- BERNAMA