KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 1): Bursa Malaysia opened marginally higher but retreated thereafter, as profit-taking emerged against selected heavyweights following recent gains, a dealer said.

At 9.10am on Monday (Aug 1), the FBM KLCI had fallen 0.52 of a point to 1,491.71 from last Friday’s close at 1,492.23.

The benchmark index opened 0.44 of a point firmer at 1,492.67.

On the broader market, gainers surpassed losers 183 to 141, while 233 counters were unchanged, 1,685 untraded and 18 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 262.89 million units worth RM76.49 million.

“Though the market undertone remains solid, we reckon that the benchmark index could be due for a minor correction, following a two-week run-up which saw the index expanding by around 80 points.

“Thus, we reckon the index to trend within the 1,490-1.500 range today (Monday) amid some intermittent corrections,” Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng told Bernama on Monday.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) was flat at RM8.86 and Public Bank lost two sen to RM4.62, while Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd added three sen to RM8.91, IHH Healthcare Bhd gained two sen to RM6.41, and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd increased one sen to RM5.22.

Of the actives, CSH Alliance Bhd was half a sen higher at 7.5 sen, and Metronic Global Bhd rose 1.5 sen to 15.5 sen, while Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd fell half a sen to 10 sen, and both Compugates Holdings Bhd and Ta Win Holdings Bhd were flat at one sen and 8.5 sen respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Shariah Index earned 5.64 points to 10,740.41, and the FBM ACE grew 6.34 points to 4,841.66, while the FBMT 100 Index declined 4.64 points to 10,348.23, the FBM Emas Index decreased 2.05 points to 10,599.85, and the FBM 70 slipped 10.18 points to 12,748.26.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index strengthened 27.93 points to 7,026.27, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.33 of a point to 184.70, and the Energy Index expanded 6.10 points to 677.34, while the Financial Services Index eased 25.34 points to 16,620.05.