KUALA LUMPUR (April 27): Bursa Malaysia retreated from yesterday's gain to open slightly lower today, driven by mild profit taking on selected consumer product counters amid mixed sentiment on regional markets, dealers said.

At 9.15am, the FBM KLCI had slipped 4.254 points to 1,619.23, compared with 1,623.47 at yesterday's close.

The market bellwether opened 0.26 of a point lower at 1,623.21.

Overall market breadth was negative with losers leading gainers at 294 to 260, while 384 counters were unchanged, 1,262 untraded and 29 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 769.23 million shares worth RM490.78 million.

Malacca Securities, in a research note, expects market sentiment to remain cautious ahead of any potential lockdown announcement in the near future.

“The KLCI extended gains for the third consecutive session, partly powered by persistent buying interest in glove counters on the back of surging Covid-19 infections in several countries, particularly India and Brazil,” it said.

Nevertheless, the research firm said the upward momentum in glove stocks may be waning once Covid-19 cases are reduced, coupled with the ongoing vaccination programme.

“We continue to like packaging stocks amid elevated demand for packaging and delivery during the movement control order (MCO) period. Besides, investors may put technology stocks on their radar following the rise in Nasdaq overnight.

“Also, transportation and logistics stocks could remain under the limelight, given demand outstripping supply as of this juncture for the dry bulk shipping segment,” it added.

Nestlé (Malaysia) Bhd and Petronas Dagangan Bhd (PetDag) were the top two losers on Bursa so far today, declining 80 sen and 20 sen each to RM135.70 and RM20.10 respectively.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) was five sen easier at RM8.31, Public Bank Bhd went down one sen to RM4.18 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) slipped seven sen to RM7.84, while Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) was flat at RM10 and Top Glove Corp Bhd added seven sen to RM5.97.

Among the active counters, Focus Dynamics Group Bhd and Kanger International Bhd improved one sen each to 15.5 sen and eight sen respectively, KTG Bhd earned half a sen to 26 sen and Hiap Teck Venture Bhd rose 1.5 sen to 55 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shed 23.62 points to 11,914.29, the FBMT 100 decreased 27.16 points to 11,565.42, the FBM 70 was 24.85 points lower at 15,692.77 and the FBM Emas Shariah fell 7.79 points to 13,436.52, while the FBM ACE was 101.44 points better at 9,002.36.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index declined 16.31 points to 6,868.43, the Financial Services Index reduced 62.19 points to 14,989.42, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.36 of a point to 197.30.