KUALA LUMPUR (April 23): Bursa Malaysia opened slightly easier on the last trading day of the week amid continued Covid-19 jitters and a weaker overnight Wall Street.
At 9.10am, the FBM KLCI was slightly lower by 0.28 of a point at 1,607.45, with gains in glove stocks limiting the downtrend.
The market bellwether opened 0.45 of a point lower at 1,607.28.
Overall market breadth was slightly negative with losers edging past gainers at 232 to 222, while 344 counters were unchanged, 1,395 untraded and 17 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 578.44 million shares worth RM340.86 million.
Malacca Securities said while investors may be piling into stocks with higher earning certainties ahead of the earnings season, the market remained jittery due to the higher local daily tally of Covid-19 cases and the weaker performance of US stock markets.
The Dow Jones slipped 0.9% after US President Joe Biden proposed to double the capital gains tax for those earning US$1 million (RM4.11 million) and above.
It was reported that Biden is expected to unveil the proposal formally next week as a move to fund spending in the upcoming American Families Plan.
Back home, crude palm oil (CPO) prices were on firmer footing, surpassing the RM4,000 level, while benchmark Brent crude is seen to be on an upward trend.
Additionally, lumber futures are trading around an all-time-high region.
“We believe plantation, oil and gas as well as lumber-related stocks may be looking up.
“Meanwhile, the transportation and logistics industry may stage a rebound following a mild pullback yesterday,” it said in a note.
Top Glove Corp Bhd and Hartalega Holdings Bhd continued to lead the gainers’ list among the heavyweights, each increasing by six sen to RM5.68 and RM10.60 respectively, while Supermax Corp Bhd was 12 sen higher at RM5.89.
Meanwhile, Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) rose three sen to RM5.81 and Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd added four sen to RM5.25.
Conversely, Sime Darby Bhd eased two sen to RM2.27, IHH Healthcare Bhd lost five sen to RM5.45, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd dropped three sen to RM4.21, and Public Bank Bhd was one sen lower at RM4.19.
Among the active counters, Mah Sing Group Bhd increased 11 sen to RM1.05, Focus Dynamics Group Bhd was one sen higher at 12.5 sen, Bina Puri Holdings Bhd declined half a sen to 8.5 sen and Key Asic Bhd was flat at 19.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index reduced 3.10 points to 11,831.76, the FBMT 100 went down 5.90 points to 11,486.80, and the FBM 70 was 22.94 points weaker at 15,607.42.
On the other hand, the FBM Emas Shariah expanded 7.50 points to 13,279.79, and the FBM ACE was 52.08 points better at 8,634.49.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index declined 1.61 points to 6,854.50, the Financial Services Index was lower by 23.39 points at 15,024.03, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.26 of a point to 195.98.
