Bursa Malaysia opened higher this morning before declining after recording a strong increase over the past two days despite the overnight US stock market showing an encouraging performance.
Investors on Wall Street have responded positively to reports that U.S. lawmakers have almost reached an agreement on coronovirus assistance while the Federal Reserve shows most officials expect interest rates to remain close to zero for years to come, dealers said.
According to Bernama, at 9.08 am, the benchmark index of the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 5.24 points to 1,676.17 from 1,681.41 when it closed earlier.
The key index opened 2.86 points higher at 1,684.27.
The overall market price movement was also negative with losers outpacing gainers 280 to 257 while 415 counters were unchanged, 1,191 untraded and 45 others suspended.
Turnover was 596.75 million units worth RM233.25 million.
In a research note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said following the overnight rise in the US stock market, the local market is expected to follow but profit-taking activity is likely to emerge later.
"Covid-19 cases detected in some glove companies may trigger some sales activity after the glove manufacturer's stock soared for two days.
"Meanwhile, with ongoing discussions in the market on Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed trains, we are of the view that traders will continue to trade on construction counters and real estate," he said.
In other developments, Brent oil prices jumped above US $ 51 a barrel despite a drop in crude oil inventory of 3.1 million barrels last week and this helped support the local market.
For the sectors that are the main focus, it adds that apart from the construction, building materials and real estate sectors, the sectors identified for recovery such as banking and consumers will also increase even during the "window dressing" period.
Among heavyweights, Maybank fell five sen to RM8.62, Public Bank and Tenaga declined six sen to RM21.82 and RM10.70 respectively, Top Glove fell four sen to RM6.73, while Petronas Chemicals rose one sen. to RM7 .61.
Of the most active stocks, Seacera warrants added five sen to 5.5 sen, Mah Sing added 4.5 sen to 97.5 sen and Tiger Synergy expanded half a sen to 17 sen.
Sunzen Biotech warrants eased half a sen to 2.5 sen and Sino Hua-An was flat at 19 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Gold Index fell 28.51 points at 12,072.48, the FBMT 100 Index declined 39.90 points to 11,823.60, the FBM 70 was down 48.37 points to 15,486.44, the FBM ACE fell 48.38 points to 10,537.88, and the FBM Gold Shariah Index lost 10.13 points to 13,423.33.
Meanwhile, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 0.55 points to 176.36, the Plantation Index added 41.71 points to 7,405.48, but the Financial Services Index fell 95.89 points to 15,854.01.
