KUALA LUMPUR: A rebound on the FBM KLCI failed to materialise as the market opened for Tuesday trading, despite the recovery in US tech shares overnight.
Apex Securities said it expected the main index to draw support from Wall Street's rebound with the Nasdaq Composite rising 1.11% and the S&P 500 gaining 0.41%, led by a recovery in AI-related semiconductor and memory stocks.
However, it added that weak market breadth and elevated US Treasury yields, with the 10-year and 30-year yields at approximately 5.15% and 5.48%, respectively, might limit the positive spillover.
At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI was down 0.43 points to 1,595.32, with investors staying by the sidelines out of an abundance of caution.
The index slipped below the psychological level of 1,600 points in the previous session, further affirming the downtrend that had taken root in late-August.
Apex said the country's stronger-than-expected 3Q GDP growth of 5.3% provides a supportive backdrop to equities although foreign fund flows remains a key swing factor.
"Overall, the FBM KLCI is likely to trade within a range, with investors remaining selective and favouring domestically driven and defensive counters," it added.
Among the day's early laggards, Tenaga Nasional fell six sen to RM12.92, Kuala Lumpur Kepong dropped six sen to RM20.10 and YTL Power shed five sen to RM5.21
Gainers meanwhile included Nestle up 40 sen to RM90.30, MISC rising 14 sen to RM8.49 and Press Metal
climbing six sen to RM6.74.
Of actives, Zetrix AI was unchanged at five sen, GIIB added 1.5 sen to 70.5 sen and OCR was flat at 4.5 sen.
