Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Monday on cues from Wall Street's weak overnight performance as inflation data remained high and sentiment was affected by political uncertainty following the United States (US) Presidential debate.
However, it moved positively throughout the morning session due to the push of buying in medium and small stocks.
At 9.15am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 1.50 points to 1,588.59 from 1,590.09 last Friday.
The leading market index opened 0.17 points higher at 1,590.26.
Overall market sentiment was negative with losers outnumbering gainers by 253 to 192, 335 counters unchanged, 1,594 untraded and five suspended.
According to Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, Wall Street closed lower despite reports showing consumer spending rose modestly in May.
Despite pressure on Wall Street, the firm believes buying support will continue locally. Opportunities in the technology sector are increasing as investment and demand increases in data center construction, artificial intelligence and cloud technology services will continue to support trading activity for now.
For now, market participants are monitoring several key economic data to be released including the US Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) as well as employment data such as Non-Farm Payroll and the unemployment rate.
Tenaga Nasional heavyweights fell two sen to RM13.76 and IHH Healthcare fell one sen to RM6.29 while Maybank rose one sen to RM9.97.
Meanwhile, Public Bank and CIMB were unchanged at RM4.02 and RM6.80 respectively.
For the most active counters, SNS Network and Nova, declined half a sen to 75 sen and 21 sen respectively while Velesto was unchanged at 26.5 sen. Ingenieur Gudang rose one sen to six sen and Hiap Teck added 1.5 sen to 44 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Gold Index decreased by 12.53 points to 12,203.87, the FBMT 100 Index decreased by 12.47 points to 11,785.58, the FBM Gold Shariah Index decreased by 19.97 points to 12,532.73, the FBM 70 Index decreased by 23.82 points to 17,818.07.
