BURSA Malaysia ended the morning trading session lower in tandem with regional peers in taking the lead from Wall Street as investors continued to fret over the prospects for the US economy and as oil jumped to a 13-week high, a dealer said.

At lunch break, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 9.27 points to 1,514.59 from yesterday’s close of 1,523.86.

The benchmark index opened 0.55 of-a-point easier at 1,523.31, moved between 1,512.28 and 1,526.83 throughout the morning session.

On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 518 to 271, while 354 counters were unchanged, 1,131 untraded and 10 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.81 billion units worth RM953.78 million.

A dealer said Bursa Malaysia opened easier this morning and continued to trend lower till the end of morning session weighed down by persistent selling in heavyweight stocks.

The movement was in tandem with the regional peers which were mostly lower in the morning session except the Japanese Nikkei amid the rise in US bond yields and a soaring dollar pushed to a two-decade high against the yen today as investors worried about the outlook for more rate rises ahead of a key meeting of the European Central Bank later in the day.

Meanwhile, ActivTrades trader Anderson Alves said Asian equities were rangebound today after initial gains on Wall Street faded through the New York cash session.

“Investors are now eyeing Chinese assets going into the second half as China says it will boost reopening further. Downward economic pressure is still present as it looks to attract foreign investment actively.

“Some tailwinds could arrive from inflationary worries in the US as political pressures are starting to shake the walls in Washington,” he said.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was quoted as saying that some tariffs on Chinese goods do not serve US strategic interests, while the Biden administration is looking to reconfigure tariffs in a way that would be more strategic, Alves said.

“A tariff revision could be seen as positive for China’s economy in the second half of this year and might work as a short-term tool to address cost pressures on US consumers,” he noted.

Regionally, Singapore’s Straits Times Index shed 0.43% to 3,211.94, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.3% to 28,319.2, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng eased 0.24% to 21,961.60, South Korea’s Kospi decreased 0.36% to 2,616.57, and China’s SSE Composite Index reduced 0.49% to 3,247.86.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd eased three sen to RM8.81, while Petronas Chemicals Groupd Bhd and IHH Healthcare Bhd fell 13 sen each to RM9.72 and RM6.40 respectively, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd slid one sen to RM5.06 but Public Bank Bhd improved one sen to RM4.58.

Of the actives, Yew Lee Pacific Group Bhd added four sen to 33 sen, EA Holdings Bhd eased half-a-sen to one sen, LGMS Bhd declined 5.5 sen to 79 sen, while Dynaciate Group Bhd and Green Packet Bhd were flat at 14.5 sen and 7.5 sen respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 61.4 points lower at 10,871.59, the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 89.5 points to 11,143.88, the FBM 70 declined 52.48 points to 13,239.63, the FBM ACE decreased 72.95 points to 5,161.15, while the FBM T100 Index slipped 59.28 points at 10,563.03.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index trimmed 31.77 points to 16,547.34, the Plantation Index tumbled 105.2 points to 7,706.58 and the Industrial Products and Services Index was 1.64 points easier at 194.62. — Bernama / graphic by TMR