KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 19): Bursa Malaysia opened lower in early trade on Wednesday (Jan 19) on the back of persisting volatility in the market.

At 9.40am, the benchmark FBM KLCI had fallen 9.88 points to 1,533.04 from 1,542.92 at Monday's close after opening 1.22 points easier at 1,541.70.

The market was closed on Tuesday for the Thaipusam public holiday.

On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 453 to 168, while 296 counters were unchanged, 1,331 untraded and 27 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 712.3 million units worth RM385.44 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, in a research note, said volatility might continue in the market over the near term as investors monitor for new developments of interest rate movements in the US.

Meanwhile, technology counters might see another slump following the overnight tumble on the Nasdaq. Commodity-wise, crude palm oil prices bounced back above RM5,000, while crude oil prices climbed above the US$87 (about RM364.53) per barrel mark.

"Investors may see buying interest in banking counters following the sell-off in the previous session ahead of Bank Negara Malaysia’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting on Thursday. Besides, plantation and oil and gas counters may gain traction as commodity prices continue their uptrend move,” Malacca Securities said.

Of the heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) advanced six sen to RM9.01 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) added one sen to RM9.05, while Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) fell three sen to RM8.38, Public Bank Bhd declined five sen to RM4.17 and IHH Healthcare Bhd shed one sen to RM6.55. 

Of the actives, Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd (SCIB) advanced seven sen to 27.5 sen, Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX) rose 2.5 sen to 89 sen and MQ Technology Bhd edged up half a sen to 7.5 sen, while SMTrack Bhd and NWP Holdings Bhd eased one sen each to 22.5 sen and 16.5 sen respectively.  

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 83.48 points weaker at 11,018.82, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 72.79 points to 11,705.23, the FBM 70 lost 165.23 points to 13,621.40, the FBMT 100 Index dipped 82.87 points to 10,723.86 and the FBM ACE reduced 37.69 points to 6,205.48.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index was down 0.43 of a point to 200.51, the Financial Services Index contracted 155.40 points to 15,935.76 and the Plantation Index gave up 23.37 points to 6,639.81.