KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened slightly higher on Wednesday but pared its gains soon after, tracking Wall Street's overnight weakness as higher crude oil prices and rising United States (US) bond yields weighed on market sentiment.
At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) decreased 2.97 points to 1,697.57 from Tuesday's close of 1,700.54.
The benchmark index opened 0.42 points higher at 1,700.96.
Market breadth was negative, with losers outnumbering gainers 230 to 122. A total of 285 counters were unchanged, 2,135 untraded, and 17 suspended.
Turnover was at 199.75 million shares worth RM78.70 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street declined as crude oil prices and bond yields spiked following fresh US attacks on Iran.
"Brent crude is currently trading near US$95 per barrel, while the US 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 4.796 per cent, making the prospect of interest rate cuts increasingly unlikely for now," he told Bernama.
Thong said that following the FBM KLCI's decline yesterday, he believed this presented a bargain-hunting opportunity today and expected the index to hover within the 1,695-1,710 range.
Meanwhile, Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) Monetary Policy Committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday to decide on the overnight policy rate (OPR).
Consensus forecasts widely expect BNM to maintain the OPR at 2.75 per cent for the remainder of 2026.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank were unchanged at RM10.56 and RM4.91, respectively, while CIMB Group and Tenaga Nasional both fell eight sen to RM7.77 and RM13.68, respectively, and IHH Healthcare eased two sen to RM8.13.
On the most active list, Focus Dynamics, Ni Hsin and MAG Holdings were unchanged at half a sen, 24 sen and 16 sen, respectively, HHRG fell one sen to 14.5 sen, and GIIB Holdings eased half a sen to 49 sen.
Among the top gainers, Fraser and Neave jumped 70 sen to RM25.98, Malaysian Pacific Industries gained 40 sen to RM40.66, Hengyuan Refining rose 39 sen to RM2.92, Kuala Lumpur Kepong added 36 sen to RM22.20, and Petronas Chemicals rose 22 sen to RM4.29.
Among the top losers, BLD Plantation fell 50 sen to RM14.50, Hong Leong Bank lost 30 sen to RM23.40, YTL Power declined 12 sen to RM5.52, Petronas Dagangan slipped 10 sen to RM20.04, and United Malacca eased eight sen to RM5.92.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 29.81 points to 12,575.20, the FBM Top 100 Index declined 24.97 points to 12,388.86, the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 18.80 points to 12,373.18, the FBM Mid 70 Index slipped 50.08 points to 17,866.41, and the FBM ACE Index shed 11.32 points to 5,175.16.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index advanced 1.06 points to 185.65, and the Energy Index improved 6.81 points to 796.65, while the Financial Services Index fell 71.88 points to 19,966.59 and the Plantation Index declined 18.90 points to 9,296.38.