KL shares open lower

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia opened broadly lower on continued pessimism over the global economic outlook. Against this backdrop, most traders remained sidelined, a dealer said.

After 30 minutes of trading, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM
KLCI) stood 1.35 points lower at 1,578.49 after opening 0.9 of a point easier
at 1,578.94.

The local bourse also tracked the weak performance on Wall Street which
saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average trim 54.49 points to 12,437.12, the

S&P 500 index shed 8.85 points to 1,308.87 and the Nasdaq dropped 34.25 points to 2,762.67.

"Concerns over US economic policies and worries over a possible cut in its
credit rating soured investor sentiment," said a dealer.

HwangDBS Vickers Research Sdn Bhd expects the local bourse to see fairly
limited downside risk in the short-term.

"Against the prevailing jittery market sentiment, the benchmark FBM KLCI
will probably find immediate support at around the 1,575 level," it said in a
research note today.

The Finance Index fell 15.4 points to 14,844.89, the Plantation Index eased
22.98 points to 7,768.59 and the Industrial Index decreased 3.61 points to
2,850.95.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Emas Index shed 8.19 points to 10,823.05, the
FTSE Bursa Malaysia Mid 70 Index declined 12.97 points to 11,766.19 and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Ace Index shed 2.06 points to 4,123.19.

Market breadth was negative with 90 advancers, 118 losers while 173 other
counters were unchanged. Trading volume stood at 59.5 million shares valued at RM55.86 million.

Actives, Daya Materials rose 1.5 sen to 21.5 sen, Astral Supreme-ORD Rights
fell two sen to two sen and MSM-CA:CW (C) was down two sen at 30.5 sen.

Heavyweights, Maybank was flat at RM8.86, CIMB shed three sen to RM8.76
but Petronas Chemicals added one sen RM7.08. -- Bernama

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