Bursa Malaysia Opens Higher On Wall Street Cues

By Rosemarie Khoo

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened higher today, taking cues from the firmer closing on Wall Street last Friday, analysts said.

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 4.22 points to 1,637.77, compared with Friday’s close of 1,633.55. 

The benchmark index initially opened 3.62 points higher at 1,637.17.

Market breadth was positive, with 150 gainers outpacing 113 decliners, while 260 counters remained unchanged. A total of 1,942 stocks were untraded, and nine were suspended.

Turnover reached 133.33 million units, valued at RM58.15 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI would likely remain in a consolidation phase for the week unless new catalysts arise.

"Investors are urged to remain cautious until the market's direction becomes clearer. As such, we anticipate the benchmark index to trend within the range of 1,630 to 1,640 for today,” he told Bernama.

Wall Street's higher close was driven by solid bank earnings that lifted financial stocks, while inflation data fuelled anticipation of a Federal Reserve rate cut in November.

However, in Asia, major indices ended broadly lower due to profit-taking activities amid rising tensions in the Middle East.

Among the heavyweights, Public Bank, which is also the top gainer, rose by 7.0 sen to RM4.38, while Genting Malaysia and YTL increased by 3.0 sen each to RM2.38 and RM2.48, respectively. Hong Leong Bank gained 20.0 sen to RM21.30, and HLFG added 16.0 sen to RM19.20.

As for the active counters, EA Holdings was flat at half-a-sen, Key Alliance eased half-a-sen to half-a-sen, Steel Hawk added half-a-sen to 31.5 sen, followed by Public Bank, and IFCA MSC inched up 7.0 sen to RM4.38.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased by 22.69 points to 12,305.44, the FBMT 100 Index climbed by 23.29 points to 12,002.14, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose by 8.24 points to 12,218.59. The FBM 70 Index picked up 5.76 points to 17,600.15, but the FBM ACE Index narrowed by 22.99 points to 5,125.78.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index strengthened by 84.44 points to 19,262.72, and the Plantation Index was 10.42 points higher at 7,211.83.

The Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.15 of-a-point to 175.92, while the Energy Index firmed by 3.63 points to 885.73.

-- BERNAMA