Bursa Malaysia opens in the red

Bursa Malaysia opened sharply lower on Tuesday with 29 KLCI-components stocks trading in the red, tracking the global rout after China announced plans to impose higher tariffs on US$60 billion worth of US goods.

At 9.10 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) lost 26.49 points to 1,574.60, from yesterday's close of 1,601.09.

The index opened 20.24 points lower at 1,580.85.

Losers beat gainers 491 to 41, with 122 counters unchanged, 1,255 untraded and 24 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 306.4 million shares worth RM152.02 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the escalating US-Sino trade war is dampening market sentiment with global equities reacting negatively to the above event overnight.

"As it is, market sentiments among Malaysian stocks are already in the doldrums with the persistent foreign selling over the past year that has also left the FBM KLCI as an under-performer.

"The ongoing market uncertainties will leave the key index further in the red as fresh buying interest remains thin amid the increasingly challenging economic undertone and insipid earnings growth prospects," it said in a note today.

It said the market’s weakness is having a more pronounced effect on the lower liners and broader market shares as more retail players are compelled to close out their positions.

Having said that, Malacca Securities views the FBM KLCI is still largely fairly valued as its price-to-earnings ratio (PERs) are still within its historical range, thus leaving little room for a strong recovery.

Among heavyweights, Tenaga was 36 sen lower at RM11.38, Sime Darby Plantation went down 21 sen to RM4.70, MISC dropped 30 sen to RM6.38 and Maybank was six sen lower at RM8.92.

RHB Bank added one sen to RM5.73.

Of the actively-traded stocks, Ekovest inched down 3.5 sen to 80.5 sen, Bumi Armada decreased half-a-sen to 18.5 sen and Daya Materials was unchanged at one sen.

The FBM Emas Index declined 208.95 points to 11,065.59, the FBMT 100 Index dropped 199.27 points to 10,916.28 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index went down 283.02 points to 11,126.08.

The FBM 70 depreciated 310.93 points to 13,551.94 and the FBM Ace fell 94.85 points to 4,323.75.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index reduced 139.69 points to 16,377.04, the Plantation Index weaker by 158.11 points to 6,856.30, and the Industrial Products & Services Index was 2.66 points lower at 162.11.

-- Bernama