KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia opened marginally lower today on mild profit-taking in selected heavyweight stocks, in tandem with the weaker sentiment in regional bourses as investors were cautious about the bearish global economic outlook.

At 9.15 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.57 of a point to 1,459.50 from 1,460.07 at Thursday’s close.

The key index opened 0.53 of a point easier at 1,459.54.

The broader market was slightly negative with decliners edging past advancers 167 to 164, while 302 counters were unchanged, 1,690 untraded and seven others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 264.49 million units worth RM123.43 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd expects that the overnight fall on Wall Street might spill over to the local bourse today.

“Given the two by-elections in Johor will be held this weekend, traders may also take a cautious stance and continue with profit-taking activities in the construction sector at least for the near term, while shifting their focus to defensive or value stocks,” it said in a note.

the brokerage also noted that Brent crude oil traded slightly below the US$90 per barrel level while crude palm oil prices continued to consolidate below the RM3,800 per tonne level.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose 2.0 sen to RM9.19, Public Bank was flat at RM4.25 while CIMB slipped 1.0 sen to RM5.73.

Petronas Chemicals fell 3.0 sen to RM7.14 and Tenaga Nasional went down 2.0 sen to RM9.85.

Of the actives, Classita eased half-a-sen to 7.5 sen, Tanco Holdings was flat at 56 sen while Kanger International earned half-a-sen to 6.0 sen. YTL Power added 10 sen to RM2.20.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 2.71 points to 10,772.09, the FBMT 100 Index declined 3.33 points to 10,444.57 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 14.0 points to 10,936.04.

The FBM 70 Index trimmed 1.29 points to 14,236.40, and the FBM ACE Index gave up 8.91 points to 5,179.66.

Sector-wise, the Energy Index earned 0.24 of a point to 864.73, the Plantation Index improved by 3.12 points to 6,902.07 and the Financial Services Index added 9.17 points to 16,481.37.

The Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.62 of a point to 172.50. – BERNAMA / pic TMR FILE