KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia was lower in the early trade today as sentiments remain weak in the absence of fresh catalysts, a dealer said.
It said the elevated US Treasury yields, coupled with the ongoing conflict in the Middle East as well as the hawkish US Federal Reserve capped the upside potential on the local front, at least for the near term. Meanwhile, the brokerage firm also favours the energy sector in light of the firm Brent crude oil prices.
At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI eased 1.66 points to 1,439.38 from Friday’s closing of 1,441.04.On the broader market, decliners led gainers 248 to 62, while 231 counters were unchanged, 1,816 untraded and nine suspended.Among the heavyweights, Maybank dropped 1 sen to RM8.98 and Tenaga Nasional lost 3 sen to RM9.79, while Public Bank and Petronas Chemicals gained one sen to RM4.15 and RM7.21, respectively, and CIMB was unchanged at RM5.62.