KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 19): Bursa Malaysia retreated from its gains last week to open lower on Monday (Dec 19), due to cautious sentiments on the local bourse, taking its cue from the negative Wall Street performance last week, an analyst said. 

At 9.10am, the benchmark FBM KLCI had eased by 0.20% or 2.90 points to 1,475.64, from last Friday's closing at 1,478.54. 

The market bellwether opened 1.82 points lower at 1,476.72.

On the broader market, decliners led advancers 174 versus 123, while 276 counters were unchanged, 1,672 untraded, and 19 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 242.28 million units worth RM86.02 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed lower last Friday, as traders battled between inflation and a recession, amid prospects of more rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve next year. 

“The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 282 points, while the Nasdaq declined by 105 points, with the US 10-year yield inched slightly higher at 3.49%.

“However, the KLCI surprisingly ended in positive territory, due to some last-minute buying activities. Nonetheless, we reckon this may not be sustainable, as we expect overall sentiment to remain cautious on the local bourse," he told Bernama. 

Therefore, Thong foresees the index to trend in the 1,465 to 1,480 range on Monday.

Meanwhile, he noted that crude oil prices had weakened across the board on recessionary fears, and a build-up in inventory as Brent crude dipped to US$79 per barrel. 

Hence, the market may see some profit taking on oil and gas stocks on Monday, following the rather good performance last week, he said. 

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) eased one sen to RM8.71, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd lost six sen to RM8.45, and Public Bank Bhd was flat at RM4.38, while CIMB Group Holdings Bhd gained seven sen to RM5.85, and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) added four sen to RM9.19.

Of the actives, Advance Synergy Bhd increased half a sen to 22.5 sen, KNM Group Bhd rose one sen to 5.5 sen, Sunview Group Bhd grew by three sen to 53.5 sen, and Infoline Tec Group Bhd earned 11.5 sen to 96 sen, while Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd narrowed half a sen to 1.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 17.30 points to 10,589.91, the FBMT 100 Index shed 17.27 points to 10,295.02, the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 35.87 points weaker at 10,712.55, the FBM 70 Index shaved off 8.78 points to 12,917.88, and the FBM ACE Index dipped 5.30 points to 5,456.64.  

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index gave up 106.27 points to 6,931.66, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.58 of a point to 180.68, and the Energy Index inched down 2.42 points to 788.89.    

However, the Financial Services Index was 19.32 points higher at 16,582.82.