At 9.06am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 8.46 points to 1,490.93 from yesterday’s close of 1,499.39.
The key index opened 5.60 points lower at 1,493.79.
On the broader market, decliners thumped gainers 241 to 90, while 277 counters were unchanged, 1,599 were not traded, and 45 others were suspended.
Turnover amounted to 304.22 million units worth RM118.91 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng noted that the local bourse took the cue from Wall Street overnight, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 261 points while the Nasdaq lost 228 points as the US 10-year yield edged higher to almost 3.54%.
“Regionally in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index tumbled 619 points due to some profit-taking activities after a strong run-up so far this year,” he said in a note.
Nonetheless, Thong reckons that the market undertone remains solid as China was further upgraded by Goldman Sachs.
“However, we can say that trading on the local bourse has been lacklustre amongst the blue chips as the benchmark index was stuck within a five-point range over the past two weeks.
“Therefore, we reckon the trading pattern should remain the same today with the index trending between 1,495 and 1,505,” he said.
Commenting on the upcoming Budget 2023 slated to be tabled on Feb 24, he said buying interest may be returning to construction stocks “as we see many projects to be rolled out to revive the nation’s economy”.
Among the heavyweight counters, banking counters led the losses, with Maybank and CIMB Bank losing three sen each at RM8.75 and RM5.75, respectively. Public Bank was flat at RM4.26 while Petronas Chemicals erased five sen at RM8.40.
As for the actives, ACE Market debutante Vestland added 7.5 sen to 40.5 sen, Hong Seng Consolidated lost a sen at 19.5 sen while its warrant was half-a-sen easier at 1.5 sen. Barakah Offshore added a sen to 6.5 sen and Borneo Oil gained half a sen at 2.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lost 55.57 points to 10,854.06, the FBMT 100 Index erased 54.61 points to 10,522.85, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index went down 64.20 points to 11,125.43.
The FBM 70 Index narrowed 52.97 points to 13,727.13 while the FBM ACE Index weakened by 35.35 points to 5,723.16.
Sector-wise, the industrial products and services index slid 1.08 points to 190.22, the energy index fell 6.51 points to 886.78 and the plantation index shrank 40.43 points to 6,809.63. The financial services index trimmed 77.27 points to 16,460.78.