KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened almost flat tracking Wall Street's weak performance as rising crude oil prices reignited inflationary concerns.
The key index was up by 0.18 points to 1,455.01 at the opening bell versus 1,454.83 at yesterday's close.
Gainers led losers 190 to 152 while 288 counters remained unchanged.
As at 9.20am, the benchmark index was up 2.67 points to 1457.40 points.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said the local bourse was also affected by the regional weaknesses affected by the property scene in china.
"In view of the change in sentiment to cautious mode, we reckon the index to trend within the 1,450-1,460 range today as some bargain hunting activities may emerge.
"On a more positive note, we noticed volume traded on the local bourse remained elevated at above four billion shares," he said.
On the global front, Saudi Arabia and Russia extended their voluntary cut in oil supply pushing the Brent crude to a year to date high at above the US$90 per barrel.
This led to the Dow Jones Industrial Average to lose 196 points while the Nasdaq declined by 11 points as the US 10-year yield inched higher to 4.266 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped 390 points as confidence continued to be spooked by potentially more Country Garden's default despite having averted a portion of it earlier.
"Sentiment remains jittery as the Chinese property developer is faced with more debt maturities and traders are concerned that the stimulus package from Beijing may be insufficient to revive the sector," added Thong.