Bursa Malaysia started early in 2021 with a low opening when the key index fell 0.73% due to a lack of market catalyst and when regional performance was mixed, dealers said.
At 9.13am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) benchmark fell 11.81 points to 1,615.4 after opening 1.8 points higher at 1,629.01 from 1,627.21 when it closed on Thursday.
Bernama reported that market sentiment was negative with losers outpacing gainers by 427 to 222 while 328 counters were unchanged, 1,105 untraded and 12 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 660.06 million units worth RM322.62 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's Head of Research, Kenny Yee Shen Pin, expects the local bourse to see a weak opening due to a lack of catalysts with US futures remaining unchanged.
News of the termination of the High Speed Rail (HSR) Project may have driven some of the sale of construction shares and building materials today.
"In this regard, we see the FBM KLCI may be tested at the level of 1,620 / 25 today," he said in a note today.
The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR project has been terminated as the two countries failed to reach an agreement on the proposed changes by Malaysia following the project agreement ending 31 December 2020.
In a joint media statement by the Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong, the Malaysian government proposed several changes to the HSR project due to the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the Malaysian economy.
"Both governments have held several discussions on these changes and have not yet reached an agreement. Therefore, the HSR Agreement has expired on 31 December 2020, ”according to the statement.
On the positive side, Yee said the ringgit continued to strengthen against the US dollar and was currently at RM4.02, which was good for importers especially for automotive stocks.
Among heavyweights, Maybank declined two sen to RM8.44, Public Bank declined 14 sen to RM20.46, Petronas Chemicals fell eight sen to RM7.35 and Top Glove declined 30 sen to RM5.82.
However, Energy increased 12 sen to RM10.54 while IHH Healthcare was unchanged at RM5.50.
Among actives, Daya Material was flat at 1.5 sen, Ekovest was down 4.5 sen to 47.5 sen, Green Ocean was down half a sen to 8.5 sen and Iris was flat at 43.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Gold Index was down 89.12 points to 11,672.81, the FBMT 100 Index was down 87.53 points to 11,414.46, the FBM 70 was down 131.05 points to 15,011.79 and the FBM Gold Shariah Index was down 103.64 points to 13,055.51.
However, FBM ACE dropped 18.52 points to 10,753.21.
Meanwhile, the Industrial Products and Services Index fell 1.5 points to 176.61, the Financial Services Index contracted 73.66 points to 15,242.89 and the Plantation Index fell 11.1 points to 7,291.74.
