KUALA LUMPUR (March 25): Bursa Malaysia opened mixed on Monday, taking its cue from Wall Street's weaker performance last Friday as the US Federal Reserve kept the federal funds rate unchanged at 5.25%-5.50% for the fifth straight meeting.

At 9.11am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slid 3.61 points to 1,538.78 from last Friday’s close of 1,542.39. The benchmark index opened 2.16 points lower at 1,540.23.

However, on the broader market, gainers led decliners 233 to 192, while 333 counters were unchanged, 1,577 untraded and 37 suspended.

Turnover amounted to 303.92 million units worth RM119.48 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed mixed last Friday due to negative sentiments after the Fed kept the federal funds rate unchanged.

“The Dow Jones Industrial (DJI) Average lost 305 points, but the Nasdaq was up 27 points with the US Treasury 10-year yield easing to 4.202%.

“Due to the uncertainty on Wall Street, we believe trading on the local bourse would be stuck in a tight range of between 1,535 and 1,545 today,” he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd declined two sen to RM9.57 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd weakened eight sen to RM11.48, while CIMB Group Holdings Bhd added three sen to RM6.58, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd gained three sen to RM6.82, and Public Bank Bhd was flat at RM4.24.

For the actives, Velestro Energy Bhd added 1.5 sen to 30 sen, Prolintas Infra Business Trust rose 1.5 sen to 96.5 sen, Advance Information Marketing Bhd went up 1.5 sen to 9.5 sen, and Kinergy Advancement Bhd added half-a-sen to 36.5 sen, while Pelikan International Corp Bhd slid four sen to 2.25 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index reduced by 10.36 points to 11,544.74 and the FBMT 100 Index was 14.73 points lower at 11,189.45, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined by 19.14 points to 11,632.84.

The FBM 70 Index jumped 26.55 points to 15,997.25, and the FBM ACE Index perked up 9.21 points to 4,865.55.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.1 of-a-point to 178.83, the Energy Index expanded 3.77 points to 938.11, and the Financial Services Index gained 11.63 points to 17,200.51, while the Plantation Index lost 24.04 points to 7,312.63.