KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 27): Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Monday due to profit-taking activities in selected heavyweights, following the mixed performance on Wall Street last Friday.

At 9.06am, the FBM KLCI had fallen 1.73 points to 1,452.19, from last Friday’s closing at 1,453.92. The index opened 0.77 of a point weaker at 1,453.15.

Market breadth was negative, with decliners leading gainers 151 to 128, while 276 counters were unchanged, 1,855 untraded, and 48 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 210.47 million units valued at RM78.92 million.

Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng noted that Wall Street ended mixed, supported by retailers, as Black Friday kicked off the holiday shopping season, while traders were mainly sidelined, waiting for economic data due later this week.

As a result, although the Dow Jones Index Average gained 117 points, the Nasdaq declined by 15 points, while the US 10-year yield edged higher at 4.472%.

He said the domestic market undertone is still cautious, as the market heads into the final leg of corporate earnings reporting, which so far has been quite decent.

“Reflecting the ongoing market volatility, we expect the benchmark index to hover within the 1,450-1,460 range today (Monday). We expect some interest in plantation stocks, with many reporting improving margins from better cost controls,” he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweight counters, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) was flat at RM9.09 a share, Public Bank Bhd decreased one sen to RM4.24, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd went down three sen to RM5.72, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd was two sen weaker at RM7.28, and Tenaga Nasional Bhd slid five sen to RM9.95.

Of the actives, Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd rose half a sen to three sen, Panda Eco System Bhd made its debut by gaining 13 sen to 29 sen, while Top Glove Corp Bhd slipped one sen to 89 sen. EA Holdings Bhd at one sen and Capital A Bhd at 87 sen were both flat.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined by 6.62 points to 10,762.11, the FBMT 100 Index shed 8.68 points to 10,422.20, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index weakened by 8.91 points to 10,935.10.

The FBM ACE Index lost 35.41 points to 5,170.02, but the FBM 70 Index added 4.34 points to 14,336.08.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gave up 18.28 points to 16,366.04, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.04 of-a-point to 174.07. The Energy Index gained 0.74 of a point to 835.59, while the Plantation Index was 10.99 points higher at 6,942.34.