Bursa Malaysia Opens Higher On Bargain Hunting

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia rebounded at Friday’s open, recovering from Thursday’s steep sell-off on the back of bargain-hunting.

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 6.36 points to 1,671.18, from Thursday’s close of 1,664.82.

The benchmark index began 4.65 points higher at 1,669.47.

Across the broader market, gainers outpaced decliners 159 to 114, with 206 counters unchanged, 1,976 untraded and 17 suspended.

Turnover totalled 83.76 million units, valued at RM40.60 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, equity research vice-president, Thong Pak Leng, expects a subdued trading session due to mixed cues from Wall Street, with the FBM KLCI likely trading in a tight range of 1,660-1,670.

Thong attributed the cautious sentiment to uncertainty following weak US employment data, ahead of the closely watched monthly jobs report due tonight. 

Payroll processor ADP's report showed that private businesses in the US added 99,000 jobs in August 2024, the lowest since January 2021 and below the forecast of 145,000.

Meanwhile, another analyst opined that the banking sector could take centre stage after Bank Negara Malaysia maintained the overnight policy rate at three per cent, citing manageable inflation and stable economic prospects.

Among heavyweight stocks, Tenaga Nasional added 14 sen to RM14.96, Maybank gained six sen to RM10.86 and IHH Healthcare advanced eight sen to RM6.52. 

Both YTL Corp and YTL Power rebounded from heavy selling on Thursday, rising four sen each to RM2.74 and two sen to RM3.71, respectively.

Active counters included Steel Hawk, which climbed 2.5 sen to 37 sen, while Hextar Capital and Elridge Energy gained one sen each to 40.5 sen and 42 sen, respectively. Borneo Oil remained unchanged at 1.0 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index added 37.14 points to 12,409.81, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 24.59 points to 12,198.78, and the FBMT 100 Index gained 38.31 points to 12,119.26. 

The FBM 70 Index rose 25.37 points to 17,297.30, while the FBM ACE Index edged up 0.16 of-a-point to 5,081.26.

By sector, the Financial Services Index jumped 90.72 points to 19,738.68, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.11 of-a-point to 177.48, the Energy Index rose 3.16 points to 891.08, and the Plantation Index added 3.40 points to 7,228.49.

-- BERNAMA