KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia could end the week with a bout of profit-taking as investors use the opportunity of a negative Wall Street performance to take cash off the table.
At the opening bell, the benchmark FBM KLCI was 2.94 points lower at 1,448.21, which put the index on course to snapping a six-day winning streak.
Overnight, the Dow Jones snapped a 13-day rally, the longest in decades, despite US economic data that showed higher-than-expected growth in the second quarter.
Bursa Malaysia is expected to mirror Wall Street's profit-taking over the course of the day although investor sentiment remains upbeat following the launch of the Madani Economi Framework and NERT to bolster the Malaysian economy.
Malacca Securities Research noted there were also other positive developments in the capital markets including the initiative to allow the trading of smaller size lots and fractional shares, as well as the enabling of automatic transactions for companies on the ACE Market to Main Market.
"Meanwhile, the lower liners will continue to enjoy rotational play on the back of the calmer market conditions," said the research firm in a note.
Banks were among the blue chips being sold with Maybank falling one sen to RM8.98 and Public Bank dropping three sen.
PETRONAS Chemicals shaved seven sen to RM6.74 while Tenaga Nasional fell three sen to RM9.57.
Among leading gainers, AirAsia X
extended a strong rally, jumping 18 sen to RM2.51 while Capital A clibmed 3.5 sen to 95 sen.
The Tony Fernandes-controlled companies were among the most active counters of the early morning.
Other actives included Hong Seng down 0.5 sen to eight sen, UEM Sunrise up two sen to 50.5 sen and Tanco unchanged at 56 sen.
