Bursa Malaysia's main index, the FBM KLCI opened lower this morning after recording a decline on Friday, while other indices also moved in a downward trend following growing concerns over Covid-19 cases around the world.
As of 9.15am this morning, the key benchmark index declined slightly by 1.04 points to 1,651.45 from 1,652.49 when it closed on Friday afternoon.
Bernama reports that at the opening level, the key index fell 3.64 points to 1,648.85.
The overall market price movement saw a slight difference between the gainers and losers with 269 counterparts 252 while 383 counters were unchanged, 1,263 untraded and 47 others suspended.
Turnover was 553.42 million units worth RM172.88 million.
A market analyst said the market would see volatile movements throughout today's transaction following the development of a new Covid-19 variant case in London and this has affected market confidence in vaccine progress.
"Currently, countries around the world have managed to get some vaccinations but with the development of new variants in London, the economy is beginning to worry that vaccine launch measures will not be enough to address the global health crisis," he said.
Following these new developments, it also affected global markets worldwide including the Straits Times Index which declined 14.62 points to 2,834.36, the Nikkei fell 151.18 points to 26,612.21 and the Dow Jones Industrial fell 124.35 points to 30,179.05.
Bloomberg reports that United Kingdom (UK) Health Secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed the new Covid-19 variant, which triggered tight restrictions in London and southeastern England, is 'out of control'.
He also warned that the strict measures will continue to be enforced until the vaccination program is implemented comprehensively.
Meanwhile, in terms of technical benchmarks, he said the index is expected to move between 1,645 and 1,670 throughout the day.
For heavyweight counter performance, Petronas Dagangan decreased 74 sen to RM20.50, Kuala Lumpur Kepong declined 26 sen to RM23.83, Telekom declined seven sen to RM5.34 and IHH lowered 10 sen to RM5.34.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 16.62 points to 11,873.90, the FBMT 100 Index declined 144.15 points to 11,650.05, the FBM Emas Syariah Index declined 30.18 points to 13,304.20, the FBM 70 was down 149.24 points to 15,218.60, while the FBM ACE added 23.42 points to 10,471.00.
Meanwhile, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 0.36 points to 176.05, the Plantation Index fell 5.44 points to 7,344.36, and the Financial Services Index declined 17.64 points to 15,407.30.
