KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI opened lower on Friday, July 16 and was down 0.16 of a point to 1,333.92 at 9.10am, in line with the decline at Asian markets due to profit taking amid worries of a slowdown in the US economic growth.

Wall Street ended flat after spending much of Thursday in negative territory after an unexpected fall in regional factory activity and a third straight month of decline in producer prices raised concerns about deflation, cooling enthusiasm for the strong start to the earnings season, according to Reuters.

JPMorgan Chase & Co reported quarterly earnings that beat expectations, but offered a cautious outlook on the economy, it said.

At Bursa Malaysia, F&N was the top loser in early trade and fell 10 sen to RM14.10. Pharmaniaga and IOI Corp lost five sen each to RM5.54 and RM5.05 respectively, while George Kent slipped two sen to RM1.30.

Newly-listed CapitaMalls Malaysia Trust fell on its debut, down 1.5 sen to 98.5 sen with 5.37 million units done.

The top gainer was Scomi Engineering, which is rewarding its shareholders with a total gross special interim dividend of 29.5 sen per share. The stock jumped 25 sen to RM1.40. Meanwhile, its loan stocks gained 10 sen to RM1.18.

Jetson shares rose 22 sen to RM1.77, while its warrants added 16.5 sen to RM1. Top Glove added 11 sen to RM7.35, Ajinomoto and Tomypak up 10 sen each to RM4.49 and RM3.60 respectively, while DFZ Capital rose nine sen to RM3.57.