KUALA LUMPUR • Bursa Malaysia opened slightly lower this morning, tracking the fall on Wall Street and global markets last Friday, a dealer said. 

At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) retreated 3.7 points to 1,390.93 from last Friday’s close of 1,394.63.

The benchmark index opened 0.93 of a point easier at 1,393.70. 

On the broader market, decliners trounced gainers 224 to 83, while 198 counters were unchanged, 1,848 untraded, and 31 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 96.49 million units worth RM41.53 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd noted that Wall Street extended its slide last Friday after the strong US personal spending data for August 2022 led to the continued expectation of aggressive interest rate hikes by the American central bank.

“We believe global market turmoil will likely continue, stemming from fears that elevated inflation rates will cause a recession,” it said in a research note today.

Back home, the brokerage expects mild bargain-hunting activities to emerge ahead of Budget 2023 this week. 

The tabling of the Budget 2023 is scheduled on Oct 7. 

Commodities-wise, the price of crude oil fell to trade around US$85 (RM395.25) per barrel, while the crude palm oil gained momentum to close above RM3,410 per tonne, tracking soybean oil gains.

Meanwhile, Bursa heavyweights Malayan Banking Bhd and Public Bank Bhd declined one sen each to RM8.57 and RM4.22 respectively, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd went down two sen to RM5.11, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd improved one sen to RM8.40 while IHH Healthcare Bhd was flat at RM5.90. 

Of the actives, SNS Network Technology Bhd and Vinvest Capital Holdings Bhd gained half-a-sen each to 28 sen and 20 sen respectively, while Harvest Miracle Capital Bhd added two sen to 12 sen.

XOX Bhd eased half-a-sen to 1.5 sen and PT Resources Holdings Bhd was flat at 46 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index trimmed 32.83 points to 9,944.03, the FBM 70 slipped by 56.31 points to 12,145.50, and the FBM T100 Index gave up 30.42 points to 9,698.28.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index weakened 40.96 points to 9,967.07, and the FBM ACE contracted 10.7 points to 4,647.17. 

Sector-wise, the Energy Index was down by 3.51 points to 666.67, the Financial Services Index declined by 10.34 points to 15,912.11, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased by 0.88 of-a-point to 168.99, while the Plantation Index went up 17.89 points to 6,491.65. — Bernama / pic TMR