Bursa Malaysia Opens Higher Tracking Wall Street's Gains

By Rosemarie Khoo

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened higher, supported by buying interest across the board amid Wall Street’s overnight gains, said analysts.

At 9.03 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 10.37 points to 1,623.31 from Thursday’s close of 1,612.94.

The index began the day 9.26 points higher at 1,622.20.

In the broader market, gainers outnumbered decliners 303 to 55, with 180 counters unchanged, 1,948 untraded and 23 suspended.

Turnover stood at 94.99 million units worth RM54.23 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said today’s trading pattern will likely remain the same as yesterday due to the lack of fresh catalysts.

He said the benchmark index today is expected to trend within the 1,610 to 1,620 points range. 

On Thursday, the FBM KLCI ended flat despite continuous buying support from foreign funds as the local bourse’s overall sentiment remained rather uninspiring. 

Meanwhile, Wall Street surged as traders turned optimistic about a soft landing for the United States (US) economy following better-than-expected retail data in July and a fall in jobless claims for the week.

Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index (HSI) closed marginally lower yesterday despite a solid opening as sentiment turned cautious attributed to a mixed bag of economic data from China. 

In heavyweight trading, CIMB rose 9.0 sen to RM7.62, while Tenaga and Telekom added 10.0 sen each to RM13.94 and RM6.99, respectively. YTL Power International increased 6.0 sen to RM4.46, and YTL Corporation gained 4.0 sen to RM3.50. 

Among the most active counters, Hextar Healthcare grew 1.0 sen to 25 sen, Pestech fell 2.0 sen to 15 sen, Jiankun International was flat at 6.0 sen, and Cape EMS rose 1.0 sen to 44 sen.

On the index front, the FBM Emas Index advanced 77.83 points to 12,317.65, the FBMT 100 Index ticked up 74.92 points to 11,962.60, the FBM Emas Shariah Index bagged 95.07 points to 12,406.79.  

The FBM 70 Index surged 105.78 points to 17,789.63, and the FBM ACE Index was 46.03 points firmer at 5,358.10.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index climbed 61.76 points to 18,349.82, the Plantation Index rose 38.26 points to 7,180.65, the Industrial Products and Services Index increased by 1.24 points to 181.86, and the Energy Index strengthened by 12.58 points to 941.10.

-- BERNAMA