KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7 — Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Wednesday, mirroring Wall Street’s overnight decline amid cautious sentiment triggered by weak US economic data and newly announced tariffs by US President Donald Trump targeting the semiconductor and pharmaceutical sectors.
At 9:10 a.m., the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 1.16 points, or 0.08%, to 1,537.48, compared to 1,538.64 at Tuesday’s close. The index had opened slightly lower at 1,537.92.
Across the broader market, losers outpaced gainers at 197 to 98, while 287 counters remained unchanged, 1,920 were untraded, and seven were suspended. Trading volume stood at 168.44 million units valued at RM82.74 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd Vice President of Equity Research, Thong Pak Leng, said the local bourse’s decline reflected Wall Street’s cautious mood, following weaker-than-expected US employment data.
“The situation worsened after Trump stated that separate tariffs will soon be imposed on the semiconductor and pharmaceutical sectors.
“Nevertheless, we believe overall sentiment remains positive and expect the FBM KLCI to trade within the range of 1,535 to 1,550 today,” he told Bernama.
Heavyweights Performance:
Maybank rose 10 sen to RM9.67
Public Bank gained 10 sen to RM4.25
IHH Healthcare added 3 sen to RM6.88
CIMB remained unchanged at RM6.75
Tenaga Nasional dropped 4 sen to RM13.24
Actively Traded Stocks:
NexG fell 0.5 sen to 53 sen
Top Glove slid 2.5 sen to 61 sen
Hartalega dropped 6 sen to RM1.26
Harvest Miracle Capital and Pharmaniaga each gained 0.5 sen to 16.5 sen and 19 sen, respectively
Index Overview:
FBM Emas Index fell 18.35 points to 11,523.62
FBMT 100 Index declined 16.74 points to 11,289.92
FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 31.83 points to 11,157.17
FBM 70 Index dropped 60.50 points to 16,606.25
FBM ACE Index edged down 0.60 points to 4,630.86
Sectoral Indices:
Financial Services Index rose 18.17 points to 17,466.63
Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.93 points to 740.01
Plantation Index declined 9.23 points to 7,354.12
— BERNAMA
