KUALA LUMPUR: In the hours leading up to the release of Malaysia's third-quarter economic report, the local bourse is expected to take on a sideways trading direction, says Apex Securities Research.
In addition, concerns over the global economic growth outlook following sluggish US job data and weak China property data will negate the optimism from softening US inflation and lower oil prices, the research firm added.
Overnight, the US stock markets were flat as positive sentiment cooled and Treasury yields advanced.
However, Apex expects the ongoing quarterly results season to continue to take centre stage and dictate the direction of local markets.
At the opening bell, the benchmark FBM KLCI was down 3.09 points to 1,461.33 as investors continued to take profit off strong gains made earlier in the week.
Blue chips leading the decline included Kuala Lumpur Kepong falling 16 sen to RM21.86, Genting shedding four sne to RM4.35 and Tenaga Nasional sliding five sne to RM9.94.
Stocks that announced their quarterly results included United Plantations rising 48 sen to RM17.30, Hume Cement gaining nine sen to RM1.99 and FPI adding six sen to RM3.
Redtone Digital slumped nine sen to 69 sen.
Unique Fire jumped 2.5 sen to 26.5 sen and was the third most actively traded stock after announcing positive earnings.
Hong Seng led the actives list, falling 0.5 sen to 3.5 sen and Mersec gained 0.5 sen to 34.5 sen.
