KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 1): The main index at Bursa Malaysia kicked off the first day of the final quarter of 2020 on a weaker note in line with the subdued regional markets, as the Malaysian manufacturing sector showed signs of losing momentum at the end of the third quarter of the year

The headline IHS Markit Malaysia Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) – a composite single-figure indicator of manufacturing performance – posted 49.0 in September, down fractionally from 49.3 in August and falling for the third month running following June's rebound.

At 9.05am, the benchmark FBM KLCI shed 5.77 points to 1,499.05.

The early losers included Nestle (M) Bhd, Ajinomoto (M) Bhd, Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd, MISC Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd and Supermax Corp Bhd.

Bloomberg said stock trading in Asia got off to a slow start Thursday as an exchange outage in Japan and numerous markets shut for holidays meant a subdued beginning to the year’s final quarter.

U.S. shares earlier finished higher after a volatile session, it said.

Markets in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea are shut for holidays.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd in its daily market report said Wall Street ended higher amid some volatility as the authorities are still trashing out the potential pandemic stimulus package in the US.

It said the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained almost 330 points to close just below the 27,800 level.

“In view of a more positive opening of the DJI futures, we reckon regional markets to trend higher today following a rather listless performance yesterday.

“As for the local bourse, we expect the FBM KLCI test the 1,510 mark after a few close calls yesterday.

“Based on our seasonal readings, 4Q is usually a better period for equities than the 3Q,” it said.