KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 8): Bursa Malaysia opened easier on Monday morning (Aug 8), extending last week’s downtrend, as cautious market sentiment weighed on investors’ risk appetite.

At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI had shed 0.3 of a point to 1,501.25 from 1,501.55 at the close last Friday.

The benchmark index opened 0.03 of a point higher at 1,501.58.

On the broader market, losers inched past gainers 131 to 112, while 189 counters were unchanged, 1,826 untraded, and eight others suspended.

Turnover stood at 104.09 million units worth RM34.27 million. 

Rakuten Trade vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said sentiment in the market was clouded by the mixed closing on Wall Street, due to fears of more aggressive rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve, following stronger-than-expected US jobs data last Friday.

He said although the Dow Jones Index Average rose by 77 points, the Nasdaq was down 63 points, as the US 10-year yield jumped to 2.83%.

“As uncertainties over the US economy linger, we reckon the sentiment would turn cautious, hence we anticipate the benchmark index to trend within the 1,490-1,505 range today (Monday),” he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, Public Bank Bhd added one sen to RM4.64 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd gained five sen to RM8.85, while Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) was flat at RM8.89, and the same occurred for IHH Healthcare Bhd at RM6.43 and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd at RM5.25. 

Of the actives, Green Packet Bhd perked one sen to six sen and Unique Fire Holdings Bhd was also one sen higher at 23.5 sen, Zen Tech International Bhd was flat at 3.5 sen and Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX) inched up half a sen to 88 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slid 1.04 points to 10,658.41, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 1.35 points to 10,404.33, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 8.8 points to 10,821.2, and the FBM ACE fell 32.15 points to 4,841.88, while the FBM 70 added 1.14 points to 12,776.8.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 4.9 points to 16,635.23 and the Energy Index edged up 2.49 points to 655.52, while the Industrial Products and Services Index trimmed 0.3 of a point to 183.68, and the Plantation Index eased 0.13 of a point to 7,125.14.