Bursa Malaysia opens in red, tracking weaker Wall Street

KUALA LUMPUR: BURSA Malaysia opened the morning session in the red today, tracking the decline in overnight Wall Street performance.

At 9.08am, the index was down a negligible 0.38 of a point to 1,438.78. It opened marginally lower at 1,439.11 against the closing of 1,439.160 on Thursday.

On the broader market, decliners outnumbered advancers 235 to 197, while 261 counters were unchanged.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 107.10 points lower, or 0.3%, at 30,076.68.

The S&P 500 slid 0.8% to 3,757.99, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 1.4% to 11,066.81.

TA Securities said stocks should continue trending lower ahead of the weekend, dragged by worries the hawkish stance by the US central bank to maintain substantial rate hikes to hopefully bring down inflation would trigger a slowdown or recession.

“Better index support is at 1,430, with the July low of 1,408 acting as stronger support preventing a further selloff to next crucial support at 1,394.

“Immediate overhead index resistance will be from 1,480, then 1,500, followed by 1,512, with significant resistance from the August high near 1,528, and subsequently 1,540,” the research house said.

Rakuten Trade reckoned the index to trend within a narrow range of 1,435-1,450 today.

“With the steep rising rates in the US, we anticipate the technology sector to experience some headwinds today as growth may be affected.

“Nonetheless, some bargain hunting activities may emerge for the banks and telcos after consecutive declines,” it added.

On Bursa Malaysia, Nestle shed RM1.20 to RM127.20, Kuala Lumpur Kepong eased 32 sen to RM21.66, Malaysian Pacific Industries lost 30 sen to RM28.84 and IHH Healthcare declined 19 sen to RM5.81.

Among the gainers, Hextar Technologies rose 15 sen to RM4.20, Computer Forms added seven sen to RM1.36, RHB Bank climbed six sen to RM5.70 and Hong Leong Financial Group advanced six sen to RM18.96.