Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Friday trading amid a lack of fresh catalysts and Wall Street's overnight gains on support from strong US economic data.
At 9.10 this morning, the main indicator index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 7.89 points to 1,663.43 from the level of 1,671.32 recorded yesterday.
The benchmark index opened down 2.73 points at 1,668.59.
In the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers 233 to 125 with 305 counters unchanged, 1,863 untraded and another 123 suspended.
Total trade of 188.22 million units worth RM99.28 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd Equity Research Vice President Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street ended trading on a positive note as it was driven by good economic data, especially declining unemployment claims.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 260 points while the Nasdaq gained 108 points with the US 10-year Treasury yield rising at 3.79 percent.
At the domestic level, the FBM KLCI closed lower on Thursday following profit-taking activities by foreign funds in the final session.
Meanwhile, heavyweights saw Maybank and CIMB Group drop two sen to RM10.64 and RM8.26, Public Bank down three sen to RM4.64, Tenaga Nasional up two sen to RM14.68 and IHH Healthcare gained five sen to RM7. .15.
In terms of sectors, the Financial Services Index declined 83.68 points to 19,592.18, the Energy Index decreased 11.21 points to 844.83 and the Plantation Index fell 11.28 points to 7,173.68 but the Industrial Products and Services Index increased 0.24 points to 177.13.
