by S BIRRUNTHA / pic by TMR FILE

THE FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) index is expected to face some headwinds due to greater market volatility across the region and heavy selldown on Wall Street overnight, based on Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd’s daily market report.

Head of research Kenny Yee Shen Pin said the stockbroking firm anticipates the benchmark index to trend rangebound within 1,460 to 1,470 for today.

“Wall Street closed sharply lower as the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled below the key 30,000 level for the first time since January 2021,” he said.

He added that investors seemed to be worried that the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) aggressive approach toward curbing inflation would bring the economy into a recession.

Bursa Malaysia opened broadly lower today amid market volatility.

At 9.15am, the FBM KLCI fell 25.41 points to 1,447.36 from yesterday’s close of 1,472.77.

The benchmark index opened 11.84 points lower at 1,460.93.

On the broader market, losers trumped gainers 466 to 49, while 200 counters were unchanged, 1,564 untraded and 21 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 387.81 million units worth RM134.35 million.

Meanwhile, Yee highlighted that the FBM KLCI ended higher yesterday due to bargain hunting activities.

He said the benchmark index added 0.94% or 13.72 points to end at 1,472.77 with gainers led by Nestlé (M) Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd and Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd.

“Market breadth was negative with 556 losers against 392 gainers. Total volume stood at 2.47 billion shares valued at RM1.84 billion,” he noted.

Yee added that similarly, key regional markets also ended broadly lower yesterday.

He said Wall Street closed sharply lower as investors weighed the potential economic costs of the Fed’s ongoing fight with inflation.