KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 – Bursa Malaysia traded flat to lower during the early morning trade, taking its cue from Wall Street’s muted overnight performance as most traders remained on the sidelines ahead of the United States (US) Federal Reserve’s potential rate cut.
At 9.13 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 3.84 points to 1,660.44 from Tuesday’s close of 1,664.33.
The benchmark index opened 0.05 of-a-point higher at 1,664.33.
Across the broader market, losers led gainers 232 to 104, with 256 counters unchanged, 1,913 untraded and nine suspended.
Turnover amounted to 215.23 million shares worth RM159.22 million.
In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said it expects the healthcare sector to remain in focus today, with higher US tariffs benefiting glove manufacturers and Malaysia confirming its first Mpox case, which could boost trading in glove and hospital stocks.
“Given the strong ringgit, we favour sectors like consumer, utilities, financials, and automotive.
Maybank and Genting Malaysia led the heavyweight counters, gaining two sen each to RM10.68 and RM2.38, respectively.
Meanwhile, Telekom Malaysia rose three sen to RM6.72, CIMB and Genting Bhd added one sen each to RM8.37 and RM4.16, respectively, while Maxis and MISC were flat at RM3.89 and RM8.11, respectively.
