Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng noted that the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 105 points (0.32%) while the Nasdaq slumped by 319 points (2.43%) as the US 10-year yield rebounded to 4.961%.

“We believe the sentiment will remain cautious on the local bourse as we head towards heightening volatility mainly from the US,” he told Bernama.

Hence, he expects the index to hover within the 1,440 to 1,450 range today. “Yesterday’s decline amongst the construction players may present some buying opportunities today,” he added.

At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.49 points to 1,444 from Wednesday’s closing of 1,442.51. The benchmark index opened 0.52 of-a-point higher at 1,443.03.

However, on the broader market, decliners beat gainers 154 to 84, while 222 counters were unchanged, 1,914 untraded and 17 suspended.

Turnover stood at 159.91 million units worth RM55.98 million.

Among the heavyweight counters, Maybank and Petronas Chemicals were unchanged at RM9.00 and RM7.25, respectively, while Public Bank gained 3 sen to RM4.19. CIMB added 1 sen to RM5.70 and Tenaga Nasional dropped 2 sen to RM9.86.

Of the actives, CSH Alliance, KNM, and Leform rose 0.5 sen each to 6.5 sen, 10.5 sen, and 24.5 sen, respectively. Meta Bright added 1 sen to 26.5 sen while Tanco was flat at 57.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index improved by 3.87 points to 10,642.19, the FBMT 100 Index firmed up by 4.45 points to 10,318.41and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 7.1 points to 10,856.38.

The FBM 70 Index was 21 points weaker at 13,997.46 and the FBM ACE Index shed 7.89 points to 5,059.59.

Sector-wise, the industrial products and services index was 0.03 of-a-point lower at 172.35 while the financial services index gained 26.22 points to 16,262.4.

The energy index climbed 0.75 of-a-point to 872.78 and the plantation index perked up 3.64 points to 6,886.22.