KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Wednesday, taking cues from the Wall Street downbeat performance.
This is ahead of upcoming US job data that could influence the extent of monetary policy easing by the US Federal Reserve this year.
At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 0.33 per cent or 5.57 points to 1,671.08 compared to Tuesday's closing at 1,676.65.The benchmark index open 14 points lower at 1,662.65.
The broader market was heavily in negative sentiment, with losers outnumbering gainers at 638 to 127, while 270 traded unchanged.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said that buyers would return snapping up domestic shares after a decent results season which prompted some broad-based upgrades.
However, he noted that regional markets should be negative, taking cues from Wall Street that was dragged by selling on tech related stocks gathered momentum following signs of weaknesses from US manufacturing activities.
"Taking cue from the drastic performance on Wall Street overnight, we believe trading activities on regional markets should be negatively affected thus expect the index to hover within the 1,670 to 1,680 range today," he said.
Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) is expecting the FBM KLCI to remain sluggish today as sentiment will stay cautious ahead of US jobs report as well as Bank Negara's MPC meeting on Friday.
The research firm added that the overnight selloff on Wall Street is another reason for investors to stay risk-off."Energy stocks may come under pressure after oil prices slumped.
"Technically, we expect the benchmark index to range between 1,660 and 1,680 today, with supports at 1,623 and 1,596," it said.