Bursa Malaysia opened lower overall following cautious market sentiment ahead of a full nationwide movement restriction to be implemented starting tomorrow following the high Covid-19 case.
At 9.02am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 23.64 points, or 1.48 per cent, to 1,570.80 from 1,594.44 at the close on Friday last week.
Bernama reported that the index opened 23.4 points lower at 1,571.04.
Market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers by 740 to 40, while 123 counters were unchanged, 1,279 untraded and 58 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 525.94 million units worth RM184.68 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd in a note said local stocks were expected to face selling pressure today following the National Security Council's (NSC) decision to implement the first phase of the full Movement Control Order (PKP) for two weeks from June 1 to June 14 nationwide.
The move was made following an increase in daily Covid-19 cases. Malaysia recorded 6,999 new cases yesterday.
“We expect a negative trend in the broader market due to full movement restrictions. However, investors may focus on vaccine or pharmaceutical -related stocks with ongoing vaccination programs.
"In addition, sectors such as technology and shipping related to the global level as well as related to PPE will continue to operate under the full PKP and will get the attention of traders," according to the brokerage firm.
Globally, the U.S. stock market rose as the Dow posted a small gain (+0.2%), driven by optimism about a big budget proposal from U.S. President Joe Biden.
European stock markets rose while Asian stock markets closed mostly higher.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd expects the index to move in the range of 1,590-1,600 today, with Brent crude oil and crude palm oil (CPO) looking good as well as CPO closing at an all-time high in May.
Among heavyweights, Maybank declined five sen to RM8.15, Public Bank declined eight sen to RM4.19, PetChem declined 18 sen to RM7.96, while Tenaga declined 10 sen to RM9.89.
Other losers included MPI which declined RM1.20 to RM36.00, Nestle declined RM1 to RM135.50 and BAT declined 54 sen to RM15.26.
Of the active stocks, Tanco was flat at 14.5 sen, Vsolar declined half -a -sen to two sen, while the Jetson Group rose 2.5 sen to 61 sen.
In other developments, trading in Eka Noodles Bhd shares was suspended today after the local bourse rejected its application for an extension of time to submit a revised restructuring plan proposal.
In a filing last week, the rice and sago wood producer said Bursa Securities was of the view that the company was not satisfied with any developments regarding the submission of the restructuring plan to the regulatory authorities.
Following the suspension, Eka Noodles will be delisted on June 2 unless an appeal against the delisting is submitted before May 28.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 217.25 points to 11,361.25 and the FBMT 100 Index declined 189.19 points to 11,087.41.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 237.70 points to 12,609.34, FBM 70 decreased 335.27 points to 14,534.38 and FBM ACE fell 291.47 points to
7,552.41.
By sector, the Financial Services Index declined 219.36 points to 14,947.77, the Plantation Index declined 75.71 points to 6,832.75 as well as the Index
Industrial Products and Services decreased 5.64 points to 187.4
