Bursa Malaysia opened lower at the start of trading today due to more significant profit-taking activity following the increase experienced by the market yesterday.
Bernama reported that at 9.12am, the benchmark index of the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 10.49 points to 1,564.58 compared to closing at 1,575.07 yesterday.
In the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers by 325 to 301 while 1,194 other counters were unchanged, 347 untraded and 33 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.61 billion worth RM627.26 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said the FBM KLCI is likely to see some challenges after recording consolidation yesterday.
"The benchmark index, which enjoys a wide range of buying increases, is expected to see changes involving Covid-19 related counters, especially glove manufacturer stocks.
"Therefore, we consider the movement of the FBM KLCI in the range of 1,560 to 1,580 today," the firm said in a research note.
However, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd is of the opinion that an increase in the exchange rate is still possible although this will be followed by profit-taking activities in the near future.
The brokerage firm chose the energy sector which is seen as potential following the increase in crude oil prices.
In fact, the same performance is also expected to be experienced by the plantation sector with crude palm oil prices remaining at RM3,200 per metric tonne.
Heavyweights saw Maybank drop 11 sen to RM7.55, Public Bank declined 16 sen to RM17.04, Tenaga declined 26 sen to RM10.94 and Petronas Chemicals was down three sen to RM6.72.
However, Top Glove rose 12 sen to RM7.92 while Hartalega gained four sen to RM15.74.
For the most active stocks, AT Systematization gained 3.5 sen to 22.5 sen, Netx and Sapura Energy rose half-a-sen to 17 sen and 11.5 sen respectively while Luster added one sen to 20 sen.
On the index board saw the FBM Gold Index lower 48.07 points to 11,262.96, the FBM Gold Shariah Index declined 7.47 points to 13,285.28 and the FBMT 100 Index declined 49.91 points to 11,062.68.
FBM 70 rose 29.05 points to 14,578.14 and FBM ACE added 30.21 points to 11,076.57.
By sector, the Financial Services Index declined 136.62 points to 13,150.88, the Industrial Products and Services Index declined 0.47 points to 153.84 but the Plantation Index rose 43.09 points to 7,250.68.
