Bursa Malaysia opened lower at the start of trading today following another profit-taking activity after recording a high yesterday.
At 9.12am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) benchmark fell 3.42 points to 1,624.84 with the financial and healthcare sectors leading the losers.
According to Bernama, the index opened 0.35 points lower at 1,627.91 from 1,628.26 when it closed on Thursday.
In the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers by 327 to 257 while 410 counters were unchanged, 1,129 untraded and 30 others suspended.
Turnover stood at one billion units worth RM479.71 million.
Malacca Securities argues that yesterday's strong increase may have attracted rapid profit-taking activity over the interim.
At the same time, lower stock prices are expected to continue to rise, driven mainly by sufficient liquidity as investors continue to look for higher yielding investments.
"Following the conclusion of the OPEC meeting which will see production increase slightly to 500,000 barrels per day compared to the initial estimate of 2.0 million barrels per day, we are of the view that the energy sector will continue to grow.
"The construction sector will be supported by further packages involving mega infrastructure projects, while higher crude palm oil (CPO) prices are good for the plantation sector," he said in a note today.
CGS-CIMB said the market environment remained positive for the seventh consecutive day yesterday.
In the United States (US), equity markets closed mixed as investors considered declining unemployment claims and Pfizer supply chain issues that would affect the delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine this year.
The Dow and Nasdaq were up 0.3 percent and 0.2%, respectively, while the S & P500 was down 0.1%, respectively.
Among heavyweights, 16 counters were lower, while Petronas Gas declined 12 sen to RM17.30 and IHH Healthcare declined six sen to RM5.44.
RHB Bank and Tenaga Nasional dropped eight sen to RM5.57 and RM5.29 respectively.
Seven heavyweights were positive, with KLCC PROP & REITS and Axiata rising 11 sen to RM7.71 and RM3.85 respectively and Hong Leong Bank adding eight sen to RM18.38.
Among actives, Yong Tai rose five sen to 34.5 sen, Ho Wah rose 11.5 sen to 96 sen, while Bintai Kinden declined two sen to RM1.12.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index points down to 11,748.54, the FBMT 100 drops 10.15 points to 11,501.99 and the FBM Emas Shariah drops 8.62 points to 13,528.86.
FBM 70 added 41.33 points to 15,208.71 and FBM ACE declined 38.59 points to 10,700.13.
Meanwhile, the Industrial Products and Services Index declined 0.01 points to 172.94, the Plantation Index rose 7.2 points to 7,381.35 and the Financial Services Index declined 26.39 points to 14,521.48.
