Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said that after the recent strong advance, the market may continue to consolidate, especially with thinner participation during the holiday period.
“Selective profit-taking in blue chips could continue as investors reassess positions.
“We anticipate the index to hover between 1,730 and 1,745 today,” he told Bernama.
Thong also said Wall Street ended on a mixed note after a volatile session last Friday as investors assessed the US January’s softer-than-expected inflation data for clues on the future direction of interest rates.
“Regionally, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was also lower, dragged down by weakness in tech stocks amid the global uncertainty and valuation concerns,” he said.
At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched down 0.89 of-a-point, or 0.05%, to 1,738.65 compared with Friday’s close of 1,739.54.
The benchmark index had opened 1.12 points higher at 1,740.66.
The broader market was slightly negative with losers thumping gainers 164 to139, while 320 counters were unchanged.
A total of 2,114 counters remained untraded, and 11 were suspended.
Market turnover stood at 234.46 million shares worth RM75.01 million.
Among index heavyweights, Maybank lost 4 sen to RM12.02, Public Bank was flat at RM5.04, CIMB eased 2 sen to RM8.44, while Tenaga Nasional rose 6 sen to RM14.02, and IHH gained 1 sen to RM8.84.
On the most active list, Hong Seng, Zen Tech and TWL were all flat at 0.5 sen, 0.5 sen and 2.5 sen, respectively. Tanco gained 2 sen to RM1.43 and Artroniq inched up 1.5 sen to 17 sen.
Besides Tenaga Nasional, other top gainers included MNRB, which added 24 sen to RM2.70, Chin Teck Plantations advanced 16 sen to RM10.60, Fraser and Neave bagged 10 sen to RM33 and Petronas Gas garnered 8 sen to RM18.30.
Among the top losers, 99 Speed Mart and VSTECS both dropped 14 sen to RM3.81 and RM4.06. Kein Hing International lost 9 sen to RM1.16, United Plantations fell 8 sen to RM30.10 and Hextar Technologies reduced 5 sen to RM1.12.
On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index decreased 9.84 points to 12,554.97, the FBM Emas Index lost 4.38 points to 12,733.82, the FBM Mid 70 Index declined 29.13 points to 17,540.54, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index recovered 5.95 points to 12,227.96, and the FBM ACE Index inched up 0.50 of a point to 4,741.55.
Sector-wise, the financial services index slipped 27.27 points to 21,496.61, the plantation index edged down 4.49 points to 8,372.44, while the energy index gained 2.00 points to 753.10, and the industrial products and services index was 0.10 points higher at 175.18.