Thursday 28 Mar 2024
By
main news image

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 12): The main index at Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Tuesday following the reinstatement of the Movement Control Order (MCO) in several states.

The government reinstated the MCO in the states of Penang, Selangor, Melaka, Johor and Sabah as well as the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan for a two-week period starting Jan 13.

In a national address yesterday, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said these states and federal territories are considered high-risk areas following a risk assessment as well as the evaluation of health services by the Ministry of Health (MoH).

At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI  fell 6.98 points to 1,610.27.

The early losers included Heineken Malaysia Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, Time Dotcom Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, KPower Bhd, UWC Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, UMW Holdings Bhd and Mi Technovation Bhd.

Bloomberg said Asian stocks looked set for a muted start Tuesday after U.S. stocks fell for the first time in five sessions with equity prices near all-time highs.

The dollar strengthened against all its major peers, it said.

Rakuten Trade said US equities closed higher after a volatile session as traders are hopeful of another stimulus package amid the disappointing US job data.

It said the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 57 points to close at almost the 31,100 mark while the Nasdaq ended the session on a record high at around the 13,200 level.

“Nonetheless, we expect regional markets to be mixed today in view of the unpredictable Wall Street.

“Back home, we expect the FBM KLCI to experience some weaknesses today amid the surging Covid-19 cases.

“Thus, we expect the benchmark index to trend lower today potentially testing the 1,620/25 levels.

“On a more positive note, crude oil prices continue to climb with the Brent now hovering above the US$56/barrel,” it said.

      Print
      Text Size
      Share