Bursa Malaysia opened slightly lower on Thursday, tracking the weak overnight performance on Wall Street as investors remained cautious amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and concerns over higher-for-longer US interest rates.
At 9.23am, the benchmark FBM KLCI slipped 1.57 points, or 0.09%, to 1,677.39 from Wednesday’s close.
Broader market sentiment remained negative, with most major indices trading in the red. The FBM Top 100 Index fell 31.64 points or 0.26% to 12,270.58, while the FBM Emas Index declined 38.91 points or 0.31% to 12,417.57.
The FBM 70 Index led losses among the major indices, shedding 132.39 points or 0.74% to 17,819.50, while the FBM Small Cap Index eased 54.09 points or 0.36% to 15,146.57.
Sector-wise, the Energy Index outperformed the broader market, rising 5.02 points or 0.64% to 783.79 amid continued strength in crude oil prices following escalating tensions between the United States and Iran.
Meanwhile, the Construction Index slipped 1.25 points or 0.45% to 275.46, while the Consumer Products and Services Index edged down 0.53 points or 0.11% to 484.41.
Trading activity was dominated by Tanco Holdings Bhd, which emerged as the most actively traded stock with 177.6 million shares changing hands. The counter fell 30 sen to 20 sen.
Newly-listed MM Computer Systems Bhd was the second most active counter, gaining 0.5 sen to 22.5 sen with 92.7 million shares traded following its ACE Market debut earlier today.
Other actively traded stocks included VS Industry Bhd, which fell one sen to 20 sen, Zetrix AI Bhd, which eased 0.5 sen to 84 sen, and Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd, which was unchanged at one sen.
Among gainers, Honda Malaysia-linked component maker HL Industries Bhd rose 24 sen to RM18.24, while semiconductor stocks Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd and Unisem (M) Bhd gained 22 sen and nine sen to RM46.90 and RM4.80 respectively. Petrochemicals producer Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd advanced 18 sen to RM5.76.
On the losing side, United Plantations Bhd dropped 88 sen to RM31.42, followed by Tanco, Ajinomoto (Malaysia) Bhd which fell 24 sen to RM14.84, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd which declined 24 sen to RM25.54, and KESM Industries Bhd which lost 10 sen to RM3.63.
The cautious start comes after US markets tumbled overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 1.87%, the S&P 500 declining 1.62% and the Nasdaq Composite dropping 1.98%, weighed down by weakness in technology stocks and growing concerns over the escalating US-Iran conflict.
