KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Monday amid cautious market sentiment, with technology and semiconductor stocks extending their losses on weaker global sector sentiment.
The FBM KLCI fell 7.03 points, or 0.44%, to 1,608.57 at 9.17 am. The index opened down 2.39 points at 1,613.21.
Technology and semiconductor stocks remained under pressure, with Malaysian Pacific Industries
shedding 58 sen to RM39.20, ViTrox falling 22 sen to RM10.68, KESM Industries declining 15 sen to RM4.53 and Mi Technovation losing 14 sen to RM6.39.
Other decliners included Nestle Malaysia, which fell 44 sen to RM95.50, United Plantations, down 28 sen to RM28.94, and British American Tobacco, which shed 15 sen to RM3.59.
On the gainers' list, Mega Fortris rose 33 sen to RM2.55, while Manulife Holdings and Negeri Sembilan Oil Palms gained 11 sen each to RM2.39 and RM5.40, respectively.
Grand Central Enterprises and Spritzer added eight sen each to 43.5 sen and RM3.70, respectively.
Rakuten Trade expects the benchmark index to trade within the 1,610–1,620 range today.
It said selective bargain hunting in banking, plantation and defensive stocks would lend support to the market.
Meanwhile, Malacca Securities said the FBM KLCI could trade cautiously amid weaker global technology sentiment, although fresh corporate developments may provide stock-specific trading opportunities.
It said CelcomDigi Bhd could attract investor interest after securing spectrum assignments for the 2,600MHz and 900MHz bands from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) on Oct 30.
The assignments are expected to strengthen the group's network capacity and coverage, although they entail additional costs, including RM42mil in annual fees for the 2,600MHz band.
Malacca Securities also highlighted Ta Ann following its strong third-quarter production performance.
The plantation group's crude palm oil output rose 23% year-on-year to 97,610 tonnes, while fresh fruit bunch production increased 30% to 236,443 tonnes, providing better visibility on production volumes.
