BURSA Malaysia was almost flat in the early session today amid cautious sentiment due to weaker Wall Street performance overnight. 

At 9.35 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) added 0.34 of-a-point to 1,511.68 from Monday’s close of 1,511.34.  

The barometer index opened 1.03 points easier at 1,510.31.

On the broader market, losers and gainers stood at 268 and 217, respectively, while 327 counters were unchanged, 1,437 untraded and nine others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 55.53 million units worth RM247.64 million.

In a note today, Malacca Securities said the sluggish sentiment in China could further drag the situation on the local front and it believes profit-taking activities could persist over the near term.

Although most of the sector indices are turning weak at this juncture on the back of profit-taking, the brokerage firm expects bargain hunting to emerge in construction, property and building material segments on the back of trading catalysts, namely the potential revival of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail and the ongoing developments in Johor.

“Meanwhile, we like consumers and telco stocks for their defensive characteristics,” it added.

Among the heavyweights, TNB rose two sen to RM10.76, IHH Healthcare gained one sen to RM6.15, Petronas Chemicals added three sen to RM6.71, Hong Leong Bank was flat at RM19.20, Maybank and Public Bank eased one sen each to RM9.31 and RM4.40, respectively, while CIMB shed three sen to RM6.20. 

 As for the actives, Wentel Engineering increased 1.5 sen to 27.5 sen, Minetech rose half-a-sen to 14 sen, TWL Holdings was flat at four sen, and Reneuco eased one sen to 8.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 5.44 points to 11,218.66, the FBMT 100 Index improved 4.62 points to 10,887.79, the FBM 70 Index expanded by 15.22 points to 15,135.92, the FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 18.39 points to 11,254.98 but the FBM ACE Index slid 10.16 points to 4,693.23.

Sector-wise, the Property Index shed 0.89 of-a-point to 901.07, the Plantation Index swelled 22.22 points to 7,178.43, and the Energy Index was 1.32 points higher at 870.99.

 The Financial Services Index erased 20.79 points to 16,959.45 and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.01 of-a-point to 171.82. — BERNAMA / pic TMR