Bursa Malaysia Higher In Early Trade Following Wall Street's Rebound

By Harizah Hanim Mohamed

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia was in positive territory in early trade, tracking the upward movement of the US stock market which on Monday clawed back some of the losses from its worst week in almost a year and a half.

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.85 points to 1,653.34 from yesterday's close of 1,651.49.

The benchmark index opened 2.31 points weaker at 1,653.80.

Across the broader market, gainers led losers 245 to 89, with 252 counters unchanged, 1,869 untraded and six suspended.

Turnover totalled 128.21 million units valued at RM81.72 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed higher amid some bargain-hunting activities following recent weaknesses, ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s rate cut decision in a week’s time.

“Yesterday's daily trading volume improved predominantly due to the 99 Speedmart debut. Otherwise, market sentiment was still in a cautious mode despite net foreign fund inflows still being apparent. For today, we expect the index to hover within the 1,650-1,660 range,” he told Bernama.

Regionally, most Asian markets were seen to share the same sentiment. Singapore’s Straits Times advanced 0.50 per cent to 3,513.88, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.52 per cent to 36,404.36, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was flat at 17,196.96, and South Korea's Kospi was 0.18 per cent higher at 2,540.45.

Tenaga Nasional topped the list of gainers among the heavyweights, adding 12 sen to RM14.76, while Maybank and YTL advanced four sen each to RM10.94 and RM2.43, respectively, Hong Leong Bank gained 16 sen to RM21.10, and Sunway was up five sen to RM4.01.

Among the active counters this morning were 99 Speed Mart, which erased one sen to RM1.87; Velesto Energy, which ticked up one sen to 19.5 sen; and Eversendai and its warrant which both garnered two sen to 60 sen and 36 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index added 36.18 points to 12,286.47, the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 53.70 points to 12,055.04, and the FBMT 100 Index notched up 22.43 points to 12,984.98. 

The FBM 70 Index expanded 65.81 points to 17,087.16, while the FBM ACE Index was 27.19 points better at 5,083.24.

By sector, the Financial Services Index dropped 6.09 points to 19,727.77, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.38 points to 174.64, the Energy Index firmed 7.71 points to 865.58, and the Plantation Index improved 12.49 points to 7,179.29.

-- BERNAMA