KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened on Tuesday in a cautious mood as investors remained wary ahead of the tabling of Budget 2023 and as geopolitical tensions in Europe weighed on sentiment.
Coming off three straight days of losses, Bursa Malaysia's bellwether FBM KLCI started on a mild rebound, rising 0.65 points to 1,474.11.
The caution on the market was heightened as corporate results announcements continued to pour in and investors gauged the economic impact on the latest earnings.
There is also global anticipation over the release of the minutes of the US Federal Reserves recent Open Market Committee meeting, which will offer insight into policymakers' thinking over future interest rates.
Meanwhile, the conflict between Ukraine, its allies and Russia was set to escalate as the European Union plans to adopt new sanctions against the latter this week.
This was topped off by US President Joe Biden's surprise visit to Kyiv in an unprecedented show of support for the beleaguered nation.
On Bursa Malaysia, stocks were mostly trading sideways with mixed technical signals reflecting the ongoing uncertainty.
TA Securities Research said the market would likely continue its sideways trading direction with a downward bias given the uncertainty over the global interest outlook, and as investors awaited cues for the Budget 2023 revamp.
"On the index, immediate chart support stays at 1,460 and 1,450, with stronger supports at 1,420 and 1,400. Significant overhead resistance remains at 1,512, with the August high near 1,528 as stronger resistance, followed by 1,550 and 1,570 as tougher upside hurdles," it said in its market review.
Among blue chips, Digi slumped 17 sen to RM4.30 ahead of its earnings announcement later this week.
IHH Healthcare dropped five sen to RM6.05 and Tenaga Nasional dipped three sen to RM9.83.
MBM Resources, which announced its latest result after trading hours yesterday, rose seven sen to RM3.86.
OM Holdings climbed 11 sen to RM2.57 and Hextar rose five sen to RM2.22
Among heavily traded counters, Entech was flat at 3.5 sen, MMAG dropped 0.5 sen to two sen and EG Industries
surged 16 sen to RM1.02.
