KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 7): Bursa Malaysia was lower in early trade on Wednesday (Dec 7), taking its cue from the weak Wall Street performance overnight, as traders were concerned about a potential hard landing for the US economy amid fresh recessionary fears. 

At 9.25am, the benchmark FBM KLCI had fallen by 3.21 points to 1,468.34, from Tuesday's closing at 1,471.55. The market bellwether opened 0.09 of a point easier at 1,471.46.   

On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers at 313 versus 162, while 303 counters were unchanged, 1,477 untraded, and 10 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 416.46 million units worth RM184.16 million.

In a research note on Wednesday, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said the local bourse is ripe for a rebound after the 30-point decline over the past three days.

Meanwhile, the staggering easing of Covid-19 regulations in China should bode well for regional markets' performance, it added.

“As such, we expect the index to hover in the 1,470-1,490 range today (Wednesday), with the focus possibly shifting to plantation stocks as the crude palm oil price is rising above RM4,000 per tonne on news of Indonesia’s biofuel plans that could reduce supply for exports,” it said.

Among the heavyweights, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd gained three sen to RM5.60 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) increased by three sen to RM9.21, while Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) lost two sen to RM8.59 and Public Bank Bhd declined by two sen to RM4.43, whereas Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd was down by one sen to RM8.55 and IHH Healthcare Bhd eased by one sen to RM5.81. 

Of the actives, Solution Group Bhd advanced 2.5 sen to 34.5 sen, Infomina Bhd rose four sen to RM1.11, BCM Alliance Bhd edged up half a sen to 2.5 sen, Borneo Oil Bhd was flat at two sen, Dataprep Holdings Bhd declined 1.5 sen to 29.5 sen, and ECA Integrated Solution Bhd gave up 1.5 sen to 87.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased by 21.24 points to 10,561.76, the FBMT 100 Index discounted 17.34 points to 10,258.60, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 28.07 points to 10,739.61, the FBM 70 erased 1.63 points to 12,929.14, and the FBM ACE shrank 11.83 points to 5,487.66. 

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index ticked up 2.70 points to 6,727.73, while the Financial Services Index slid 20.12 points to 16,419.30, the Industrial Products and Services Index dwindled 0.97 of a point to 181.80, and the Energy Index lessened by 10.21 points to 795.61.