KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia joined other Asian markets in a sea of red as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continued to escalate and oil prices rose.
At 9.08am, the FBM KLCI was down 2.87 points to 1,683.87.
"We expect the FBM KLCI to trade with a cautious to negative bias in the near term, as external headwinds continue to overshadow otherwise resilient domestic fundamentals.
"Renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, elevated crude oil prices and higher global bond yields are likely to keep risk appetite subdued, particularly for rate-sensitive and energy-intensive sectors," said Apex Securities in a note.
It said Wall Street's rebound on Friday could offer some support although the weekend escalation in geopolitical risk may limit follow-through buying.
"Investor attention will remain focused on this week’s heavy macro and central-bank calendar.
"Overall, we expect market volatility to remain high, with the KLCI likely to consolidate until there is greater clarity on the trajectory of global rates and the Middle East conflict."
Among the blue chips, IOI Properties
dropped six sen to RM3.58, YTL Power shed seven sen to RM5.63 and PETRONAS Dagangan fell eight sen to RM20.56.
Of actives, Zetrix was flat at 35 sen, AHB rose 0.5 sen to six sen and Luster was unchanged at 3.5 sen.
