KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 20): Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Thursday (Oct 20) following a weak Wall Street performance overnight.   

At 9.25am, the benchmark FBM KLCI had fallen 1.20 points to 1,413.90, from Wednesday's close at 1,415.10. The key index opened 0.38 of a point easier at 1,414.72.  

On the broader market, decliners led gainers 190 to 181, while 243 counters were unchanged, 1,748 untraded and 18 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 218.68 million units worth RM117.78 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng expects trading on the local bourse to be lacklustre on Thursday, impacted by surging rates in the US.

"As such, we expect the benchmark index to trend between 1,395 and 1,420, as technology stocks may see some selling,” he said.

Among the heavyweights, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd added one sen to RM5.40, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) rose four sen to RM8.18, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) was one sen lower at RM8.54 and Public Bank Bhd too declined one sen to RM4.33, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd shed five sen to RM8.58, and IHH Healthcare Bhd shaved off seven sen to RM6.03.

Of the actives, Velesto Energy Bhd grew half a sen to 12 sen, Jaya Tiasa Holdings Bhd advanced 4.5 sen to 59.5 sen, Vinvest Capital Holdings Bhd was flat at 20 sen, and Top Glove Corp Bhd trimmed two sen to 70.5 sen, while Careplus Group Bhd was one sen lower at 39.5 sen and Supermax Corp Bhd too was down by one sen to 83.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 1.32 points easier at 10,042.65, the FBM 70 improved by 16.71 points to 11,974.33, the FBMT 100 Index decreased by 3.18 points to 9,787.54, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 2.62 points to 10,042.32, and the FBM ACE dropped 16.82 points to 4,708.13.   

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slid 7.40 points to 16,170.58, the Industrial Products and Services Index narrowed 0.83 of a point to 171.62, the Plantation Index was firmer by 52.32 points to 6,730.44, and the Energy Index advanced 5.90 points to 669.34.