KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia started on a volatile note following a a flattish performance in the previous session.
Starting on a slide, the market weakness defied the expectations of analysts predicting a positive spillover from Wall Street onto the local stock market.
At the open, the FBM KLCI was down 2.05 points to 1,551.59 with some profit-taking from yesterday's gains.
Tenaga Nasional dipped six sen to RM11.54, MISC shed six sen to RM7.40 and Genting dropped three sen to RM4.95.
Banks were in the red, led by CIMB down seven sen to RM6.58, Maybank sliding two sen to RM9.73, Public Bank down three sen to RM4.26 and RHB falling two sen to RM5.65.
YTL Power, meanwhile, surged 14 sen to RM4.06 while QL Resources hopped five sen higher to RM5.96.
However, if the performance of the previous session were to be repeated, the market could be retracing its losses as it approaches the latter half of the trading day.
In a review, Apex Securities Research said Bursa Malaysia is poised to benefit from both a positive performance in US markets, which were lifted by a rebound in technology stocks, as well as upbeat economic data from China.
Overnight, the Nasdaq was lifted 0.8% to 16,103, with investors flocking to tech counters as Nvidia kicked off its AI showcase. The S&P gained 0.6% and the Dow Jones rose 0.2% to 38,790.
However, Apex acknowledged that the potential upside may be tempered by investors awaiting new catalysts and guidance on Federal Reserve interest rates this week.
There is minimal expectation of a rate cut following the coming US Federal Open Market Committee meeting as the CME FedWatch Tool currently projects a 99% chance the central bank will maintain the lending rate at 5.25-5.5%.
By sector, Apex maintained a bullish outlook on Malaysia's energy sector in the near term, supported by the ongoing rise in oil prices.
"Furthermore, we expect the technology sector to lead gains today, following the strong rebound in the Nasdaq index," it said.
Among actives, Hong Seng was flat at one sen, Harvest Miracle was unchanged at 12.5 sen and MMAG rose one sen to 15 sen.
