Despite the slight decline in the US Wall Street overnight, Malacca Securities expects the positive sentiment on the local front to be sustained with traders focussing on commodities-related stocks within the plantation and oil and gas (O&G) sectors.

“We (also) like the construction and property sectors given the potential revival of the KL-Singapore high-speed rail project while investors may continue to position themselves within the defensive consumer sector,” it said in a note today.

At 9.15am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 5.54 points to 1,538.21 from Thursday’s close of 1,543.75.

The benchmark index opened 6.80 points weaker at 1,536.95.

On the broader market, decliners led gainers at 223 to 161, while 295 counters were unchanged, 1,644 untraded and 38 suspended.

Turnover amounted to 555.16 million units worth RM134.15 million.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank was flat at RM9.65, Public Bank rose 2.0 sen to RM4.25, CIMB advanced 5.0 sen to RM6.49, while Tenaga Nasional declined 6.0 sen to RM11.50 and Petronas Chemicals slipped 2.0 sen to RM6.85.

As for the actives, Hong Seng and TWL Holdings were flat at 1.5 sen and 3.5 sen, respectively, while Eversendai and Powerwell added 1.5 sen each to 34.5 sen and 40.5 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 33.17 points weaker at 11,445.68, the FBMT 100 Index lost 33.91 points to 11,107.72 and the FBM ACE Index slipped 3.94 points to 4,723.64.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 27.65 points to 11,508.85 and the FBM 70 Index trimmed 22.34 points to 15,560.79.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dipped 76.97 points to 17,164.39, the Plantation Index decreased by 8.97 points to 7,306.79 and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.21 of a point to 175.89 while the Energy Index gained 3.94 points to 921.71.