KUALA LUMPUR (April 28): Bursa Malaysia extended yesterday's losses to open lower today, driven by continued profit-taking in selected heavyweights and healthcare counters, amid cautious sentiment on the regional markets, dealers said.

At 9.29am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 7.23 points to 1,599.45 compared to 1,606.68 at yesterday's close.

The market bellwether opened 0.16 of-a-point lower at 1,606.52.

Overall market breadth was negative with losers leading gainers at 359 to 270, while 369 counters were unchanged, 1,194 untraded and 54 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 1.29 billion shares worth RM609.21 million.

Malacca Securities, in a research note, said the FBM KLCI staged a pullback partly dragged by profit-taking activities in glove heavyweights following the recent rebound.

“We expect investors to remain on tenterhooks and focus on sectors with high earning certainties with the interstate travel ban remaining in force, while stricter Covid-19 curbs were implemented in more parts of the country.

“Commodities wise, the crude palm oil (CPO) price has seen a surge on the back of gains in soybean oil, while Brent oil price has seen a mild spike. Meanwhile, a 10-year oil and gas (O&G) services blueprint was launched to push export and research and development (R&D),” it said.

The research firm said investors may focus on the technology and semiconductor sectors moving forward following the remarkable results released yesterday.

“Besides, investors may put plantation counters on [the] radar, given the surge in CPO price. Some trading interest may be noticed in O&G counters following the launch of the 10-year O&G services blueprint,” it added.

Among heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd was flat at RM8.26, Public Bank Bhd went down one sen to RM4.16, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd slipped three sen to RM7.82, Tenaga Nasional Bhd was four sen lower at RM9.94, and Top Glove Corp Bhd declined 14 sen to RM5.62.

Among the active counters, Vortex Consolidated Bhd rose one sen to 16 sen, Sapura Energy Bhd earned half a sen to 13.5 sen, Nova MSC Bhd added two sen to 16.5 sen, while Focus Dynamics Group Bhd was flat at 13 sen.

Meanwhile, in two separate filings with Bursa Malaysia, Ancom Bhd and Nylex (Malaysia) Bhd have both requested a suspension in trading from 9am today, pending a material announcement.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shed 44.46 points to 11,803.52, the FBMT 100 decreased 45.87 points to 11,454.25, the FBM 70 was 39.84 points lower at 15,658.17, the FBM Emas Shariah fell 72.94 points to 13,269.48, and the FBM ACE was 9.18 points easier at 8,897.30.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index earned 0.65 of-a-point to 6,853.19, the Financial Services Index reduced 3.39 points to 14,948.45, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.58 of-a-point to 196.23.