Bursa opens easier on selling pressure

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia were easier in early trade today on selling pressure in selected counters, particularly heavyweights led by Sime Darby, dealers said.

Twenty-five minutes after opening, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 7.67 points to 1,765.21, after opening at 1,764.17. Sime Darby, which accounted for 1.114 points of the FBM KLCI's decline, dropped 10 sen to RM9.46 with 298,700 shares traded. HwangDBS Vickers Research said the two-day United States Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)meeting which ended yesterday, saw policymakers planning to reduce bond purchases later this year.

The research house also said they would continue to reduce the pace of purchases in measured steps through the first half of next year, possibly ending the action around mid-2014.

"This will be the most likely scenario, provided the incoming economic data broadly supports a steadier economic outlook (with unemployment falling and inflation moving up)," it added. HwangDBS Vickers said in reaction, leading US equity indices on Wall Street slumped between 1.1 per cent and 1.4 per cent at the closing bell, indicating investors may have turned nervous over the possibility of liquidity withdrawals from global equities.

"We will consequently see a return of selling pressure on the Malaysian bourse today. The FBM KLCI will face a test of resilience as the benchmark index may pull back towards the immediate support level of 1,750," it added, in a research note here. Back to the scoreboard, the Finance Index declined 30.881 points to 16,809.53 and the Industrial Index slipped 20.77 points to 2,996.57, while the Plantation Index was 24.91 points lower at 8,415.87.

The FBM Emas Index slid 59.61 points to 12,283.37, the FBMT100 Index was 57.86 points lower at 12,044.34, the FBM Mid 70 Index lost 90.51 points to 14,147.12, and the FBM Ace Index slipped 11.77 points to 4,748.98. Decliners led advancers by 270 to 59 while 143 counters were unchanged, 1,111 untraded and 23 others suspended.

Total turnover was at 216.156 million shares worth RM96.543 million. Among actives, Luster Industries shed 1.5 sen to 22.5 sen, Luster Industries-warr 12/22 eased half-a-sen to 10.5 sen, while Luster Industries-warr 13/23 was unchanged at 11 sen.

For the other heavyweights, Maybank, CIMB and Axiata dropped four sen each to RM10.38, RM8.25 and RM6.61 respectively. -- BERNAMA

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