KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia extended its downtrend this morning, taking its cue from the Wall Street which closed mixed overnight due to expectations that global interest rates may remain elevated for quite a while.
At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 2.18 points to 1,376.47 from 1,378.65 at Wednesday's close.
The key index opened 2.86 points lower at 1,375.79.
The broader market was negative with decliners surpassing advancers 170 to 131, while 224 counters were unchanged, 1,718 untraded and 21 others suspended.
Turnover was 247.88 million units worth RM83.02 million
The Dow Jones gained 92 points, mainly supported by the buying of regional banks, while the Nasdaq lost 171 points as the United States (US) Treasury 10-year yield surged to 3.79 per cent ahead of next week's Federal Reserve meeting.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI had continued its downward trajectory with no buying support in-store.
"Despite the index hovering close to a 52-week low, investors preferred to remain on the sidelines.
"Hence, we expect trading on the local bourse to stay quiet in the absence of buying catalysts, and the index to trend within the 1,375-1,385 range today," he told Bernama.
Among the heavyweights, Public Bank and Petronas Chemicals eased by one sen to RM3.80 and RM6.40, respectively, Tenaga Nasional shed four sen to RM9.23 and CIMB decreased two sen to RM4.88, while Maybank added one sen to RM8.59.
Of the actives, Star Media and RGB International gained half-a-sen to 50.5 sen and 26.5 sen, respectively, Komarkcorp inched up one sen to 9.5 sen, Sarawak Consolidated slipped two sen to 25.5 sen and Tanco was flat at 49 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slid 9.72 points to 10,152.25, the FBMT 100 Index trimmed 9.41 points to 9,852.82, the FBM Emas Shariah Index erased 20.27 points to 10,509.46 and FBM ACE Index decreased 13.29 points to 5,012.41, while the FBM 70 Index rose by 12.68 points to 13,440.45.
Sector-wise, the Energy Index eased 0.74 points to 782.48, the Plantation Index fell 19.37 points to 6,642.67 and the Industrial Products and Services Index lost 0.32 points to 158.57, while the Financial Services Index improved by 9.29 points to 15,102.11.