KUALA LUMPUR: Trading on Bursa Malaysia is expected to be cautious ahead of Bank Negara’s overnight policy rate (OPR) announcement today.

All 27 economists in the Aug. 29-Sept. 4 Reuters poll forecast the central bank would keep its benchmark overnight policy rate unchanged at 3.00% at its Sept. 7 meeting while medians showed it there through 2024.

At 9.15am, the market bellwether declined 0.71 of a point to 1,459.91. The index opened 1.65 points lower at 1,458.97.

There were 213 stocks in decline and only 157 in positive territory while 332 were unchanged.

Among the losers on Bursa Malaysia, Malaysia Airports slid seven sen to RM7.53, ViTrox fell six sen to RM7.74 and PMB Technology lost five sen to RM3.73.

Nestle rose 40 sen to RM130.20, Panasonic Manufacturing gained 36 sen to RM20.48 and PETRONAS Gas added 10 sen to RM17.20.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 198.78 points, or 0.57%, to 34,443.19, the S&P 500 lost 31.35 points, or 0.70%, to 4,465.48 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 148.48 points, or 1.06%, to 13,872.47.

Rakuten Trade believes the accumulation of stocks to continue amid improving trading volume over the past few days hence expect the index to trend between the 1,460-1,470 range today.

Inter-Pacific Research sees the broadly rangebound trend continuing for now with the key index to hover around the 1,450-1,463 levels for the time being.

“This could also allow the FBM KLCI to continue building up a base. The other support and resistance are at 1,445 and 1,466 points respectively.

“Similarly, we also think the lower liners and broader market shares could revert to a sideway trend in the near term, particularly among FBM Small Cap listed stocks after their recent gains that are seen as excessive. The lull could allow the gains to be digested and for these stocks to take a breather,” the research house said.

Inter-Pacific said market valuations continue to hover near their fair values, and this could also slow their ascend due to the still insipid corporate earnings outlook for the rest of the year.