KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened in the red on the first trading day of the year dragged down by profit-taking activities.
At 9.15am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia (FBM) KLCI dropped 0.41 per cent or 6.69 points to 1,635.64 from Tuesday's close of 1,642.33.
The key index opened 1.01 points lower at 1,641.32.
Losers led gainers in the broader market 266 to 238 while 379 counters were unchanged.
On the index board, FBM100 lost 0.3 per cent to 12,229.69, FBM Emas shed 0.27 per cent to 12,552.02 while FBM Ace added 0.81 per cent to 5,424.04.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI maintained its uptrend to close above the 1,640 mark or a 13 per cent gain y-o-y at year-end.
However, it was still way off the firm's 2024 target of 1,750 due mainly to major foreign outflows in the fourth quarter.
"Notwithstanding this, we are confident that the 1,700 threshold will be surpassed by the second half of 2025, hence we expect the index to hover within the 1,645-1,655 range today," he added