Bursa Malaysia retreats after opening higher in early trade

Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Thursday but subsequently retreated, following gains from the previous day, despite Wall Street's mostly higher performance overnight. At 9.08am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell by 4.32 points to 1,737.29, down from Wednesday's close of 1,741.61. The benchmark index had opened 1.18 points higher at 1,742.79.

On the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 172 to 158, with 340 counters remaining unchanged. Turnover comprised 160.62 million shares valued at RM99.07 million. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd noted that Wall Street closed mostly higher, with traders monitoring US consumer price index (CPI) data, as the Federal Reserve was not expected to make any rate adjustments.

Traders remained concerned about high crude oil prices, averaging nearly US$89 per barrel. The report expects stock accumulation to continue and predicts the index to trend between 1,735 and 1,750 for the day. Among notable performers, Maybank and Public Bank each dropped two sen to RM10.58 and RM5.17, while CIMB Group remained flat at RM7.92.

Tenaga Nasional fell eight sen to RM14.50, and IHH Healthcare lost a sen to RM8.34. Top gainers included Aemulus Holdings (45.5 sen), Oppstar (70.5 sen), and HHRG (16 sen). Among the top losers, Nestle decreased by one sen to RM101.90, Malaysia Smelting Corporation fell by 17 sen to RM2.05, Press Metal Aluminium dropped by 12 sen to RM7.87, United Plantation declined by 10 sen to RM33.50, and IOI Corporation dropped by seven sen to RM4.48.

The FBM ACE Index increased by 18.81 points to 5,222.24, while the FBM Emas Index decreased by 25.03 points to 12,893.67. The Financial Services Index fell by 24.93 points to 20,375.10, and the Plantation Index slipped by 28.04 points to 9,440.30.