KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 4): The main index at Bursa Malaysia opened lower Thursday morning and traded lacklustre, tracking the regional markets, as index-linked glove makers dragged.

At 9.06am, the FBM KLCI was up 0.03 points to 1,582.96.

The early decliners included Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd, Heineken Malaysia Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK), Top Glove Corp Bhd, British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd, Supermax Corp Bhd, Sime Darby Plantation Bhd and Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd.

Bloomberg said US stock futures opened higher after a rally fizzled in the regular session with earnings continuing to roll in, while Asian equities edged lower.

Treasuries held overnight losses and crude oil extended its advance, it said.

Rakuten Trade said spurred on by solid corporate earnings, Wall Street ended on positive territory after a weak start.

The research house said sentiments also improved as the retail buying frenzy dissipated for now.

It said as a result, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 36 points to above the 30,700 mark having declined to 30,520 at one point.

“On the local front, we believe market volatility to continue as investors are now on a short term mode.

“Yesterday’s wild swing seen for the FBM KLCI further suggest that investors sentiments remained rather fragile.

“Nonetheless, we reckon the index to maintain its uptrend to around the 1,585/90 range with strong resistance at 1,600.

“We expect buying interest in oil and gas stocks to continue as the Brent crude price inches towards the US$60 (RM242.97)/barrel as it gained 1.8% hovering at US$58.50 yesterday,” it said.