KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia started Thursday on a lacklustre note as blue chips drifted lower on some selling of Malaysia Airports (MAHB) and Hartalega
, in line with key Asian markets.
At 9.20am, the FBM KLCI was down 1.19 points or 0.08% to 1, 563.57. Turnover was 552.12 million shares valued at RM217.55mil. There were 181 gainers, 274 losers and 312 counters unchanged.
Asian stocks opened mostly steady after US shares moved in narrow ranges as traders digested commentary from Federal Reserve officials on the outlook for stimulus. Treasuries held a retreat.
Shares slipped in Japan and Australia, and rose in South Korea, while futures pointed lower in Hong Kong. U.S. contracts climbed, after a modest drop in the S&P 500 despite gains among firms that benefit from economic reopening.
A rally in Tesla Inc. helped the Nasdaq Composite eke out another record. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield remained below 1.50%.
At Bursa on Wednesday, local retail investors were net buyers at RM147.3mil but local funds were net sellers at RM85.4mil and foreign funds at RM61.8mil.
Rakuten Trade said domestically, the KLCI performance was again disappointing yesterday.
“However, we are adamant that some bargain hunting may emerge thus anticipate the index to hover within the 1, 565-1, 575 range today, ” it said.
Among the KLCI stocks, MAHB fell seven sen to RM6.27 and Hartalega five sen to RM7.95.
Widetec lost 13 sen to RM3, LebTech nine sen to RM1.01, TimeCom eight sen to RM14.10 while MR DIY lost seven sen to RM3.60.
Serba Dinamik continued to lose ground, shedding 1.5 sen to 58 sen in active trade.
OMH extended gains, climbing 53 sen to RM4.20, MPI rose 28 sen to RM39.28, HLFG 24 sen to RM18.34 and Unisem six sen higher at RM7.51.
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