KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened to a cautious trading mood on Thursday as a sell-off in US tech equities dampened risk sentiment for equities.
According to Apex Securities, global equities remained on shaky footing as persistent AI-related disruption fears continue to pressure technology stocks, triggering a rotation into value sectors and spilling over into broader markets across Europe and Asia.
The research firm said sentiment has also turned cautious following softer-than-expected US private payroll data and the delay of the official January jobs report, leaving investors in wait-and-see mode on the US interest rate outlook.
"Against this backdrop, the FBM KLCI is likely to trade cautiously in the near term as global risk aversion continues to drive intermittent profit-taking despite limited direct exposure to global tech weakness.
"Nonetheless, recent consolidation could help the market build a firmer base, with the index expected to fluctuate within the 1,730–1,760 range while investors monitor external cues and macro developments."
At 9am, the benchmark FBM KLCI rose three points to 1,745.83 as it bounced slightly following the previous day's decline.
There was mixed trading among the blue chips with market leaders including Maybank rising two sen to RM11.96 and PETRONAS Dagangan gaining eight sen to RM20.04.
YTL Power shed eight sen to RM3.12 and Gamuda dropped six sen to RM4.09.
Top actives included MMAG rising 0.5 sen to 5.5 sen, Pharmaniaga
flat at 43.5 sen and Zetrix AI unchanged at 80 sen.
