KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened in negative territory, reflecting regional indexes as Wall Street closed lower as technology stocks took a tumble.
The decline was further aggravated by weak demand for the latest US Treasury sales, highlighting fragile confidence in US economic conditions.
At 9:22 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell by 0.45 per cent, dropping 7.22 points to 1,584.65 from Wednesday's close of 1,591.87.
The broader market was also negative with losers outnumbering gainers 563 to 216, 372 stocks were unchanged, while 1,289 were untraded.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said given the prevailing cautious sentiment, the index is likely to fluctuate within the 1,590-1,600 range today.
"Back home, we were surprised by the FBM KLCI strong recovery as the index may be looking to test breaking the 1,600 level."Though the 1,600 is now deemed as a psychological resistance, we reckon it is crucial that this level is broken as soon as possible in order to maintain the recent upward trajectory," he said.