Bursa Malaysia opened higher today but experienced a decline thereafter due to lack of buying as the possible implementation of the Movement Control Order (PKP) 3.0 has affected market sentiment.
At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 0.27 points to 1,590.46 from 1,590.73 at the close of trading yesterday.
Bernama reported that the key index opened 0.94 points better at 1,591.67.
The market environment, however, was positive with gainers outpacing losers by 239 to 164, while 293 counters were unchanged, 1,456 counters untraded and six others suspended.
Turnover was 253.41 million shares worth RM122.02 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd is of the view that the key index is expected to perform little in the near term as investors remain cautious, switching between recovery-themed and healthcare-related stocks.
Adding the firm, plantation and metal counters are likely to see encouraging trading interest.
"In terms of commodities, the price of crude palm oil (CPO) jumped around 5.0% to close above RM4,000 a tonne yesterday, while tin futures recorded another highest price," he explained in a research note today.
The firm stressed investors may also focus on the semiconductor sector, following strong demand for chips in a pandemic situation.
Among heavyweights, Maybank declined two sen to RM8.25, Top Glove declined seven sen to RM5.41, Public Bank rose one sen to RM4.14 and TNB added three sen to RM9.96.
For active stocks, TDM rose one sen to 31.5 sen, while Tanco Holdings and Velesto Energy added half-a-sen to nine sen and 16.5 sen, respectively.
Top gainers included MTouche which gained 15 sen to 26.5 sen, while Gopeng rose 13.5 sen to 97 sen and Sarawak Oil Palm added eight sen to RM3.91.
Among the losers, Careplus and Supermax lost eight sen each to RM2.82 and RM5.90, respectively, and Adventa dropped seven sen to RM2.20.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 4.00 points to 11,711.48, the FBM Emas Syariah Index was down 1.90 points to 13,146.08 while the FBMT 100 Index rose 2.04 points to 11,362.88.
Meanwhile, FBM 70 rose 18.15 points to 15,429.39 and FBM ACE rose 40.03 points to 8,750.64.
By sector, the Industrial Goods and Services Index increased 0.35 points to 198.29, the Plantation Index rose 25.29 points to 6,942.54 and the Financial Services Index added 13.61 points to 14,860.77
