KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened easier in line with regional bourses and Wall Street’s weaker overnight performance, a dealer said.

At 9.15 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 6.54 points to 1,439.01 from Tuesday’s close of 1,445.55.

The index opened 4.69 points easier at 1,440.86.

On the broader market, decliners surpassed gainers 260 to 127, while 270 counters were unchanged, 1,730 untraded and 100 suspended.

Turnover stood at 246.94 million units worth RM115.94 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said that Wall Street suffered sharp losses overnight due to renewed worries about the United States’ economy, triggered by disappointing reports on home sales and consumer confidence.

The Dow Jones Index declined by 388 points, and the Nasdaq fell by 207 points.

“Given such circumstances, we expect sentiments on the local exchange to become somewhat cautious, which leads us to project the index to hover around the 1,440-1,450 range today,” he told Bernama.

He noted that investors may favour oil and gas stocks, given that Brent crude remained elevated at above US$92 per barrel.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank decreased two sen each to RM8.85 and RM4.17, respectively, CIMB lost one sen to RM5.54, Petronas Chemicals went down 10 sen to RM7.23 and Tenaga Nasional was three sen lower at RM9.91.

Of the actives, Tanco and Ekovest slid half-a-sen to 54.5 sen and 57 sen, respectively, and Kinergy fell one sen to 33.5 sen, while Icon and DGB rose half-a-sen each to 11.5 sen and 17.5 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shed 41.60 points to 10,668.04, the FBMT 100 Index dropped 41.51 points to 10,3331.98 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 40.84 points to 10,925.30.

The FBM 70 Index contracted 33.51 points to 14,230.86 and the FBM ACE Index lost 23.50 points to 5,174.33.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased by 1.02 points to 173.19, the Plantation Index weakened by 11.13 points to 6,896.13 and the Financial Services Index fell 67.55 points to 16,120.97, while the Energy Index went up 0.87 of-a-point to 889.70. – Bernama