Bursa Malaysia Opens Higher Amid Mixed Wall Street Overnight

By Durratul Ain Ahmad Fuad

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened higher today amid Wall Street’s mixed performance overnight as the overall sentiment was affected by the latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 2.57 points to 1,604.91, from yesterday’s close of 1,602.34.  

The benchmark index had started the day 0.54 of-a-point higher at 1,602.88.  

The broader market was positive with gainers outpacing decliners 179 to 130, while 243 counters remained unchanged, 1,914 untraded, and 14 suspended.

Turnover stood at 179.43 million shares valued at RM93.75 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng noted that the United States Treasury’s 10-year yield had eased slightly to 4.39 per cent, and added that the Nasdaq was predominantly boosted by Nvidia ahead of its earnings results due later today.

“In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index trended higher, albeit modestly, as the outlook was boosted by China’s pledge to ramp up more support for the city’s financial market via more listings of Chinese companies, improved market access and issuance of treasury bonds,” he told Bernama. 

Back home, Thong remains optimistic that bargain-hunting activities will emerge, thus he expects the index to trend in the 1,600-1,610 range today.

Among the heavyweights, Public Bank increased 2.0 sen to RM4.46, Maybank and CIMB slid 2.0 sen to RM10.22 and RM8.22 respectively, while Tenaga Nasional and IHH Healthcare were flat at RM14.42 and RM7.26, respectively.

As for the active stocks, Silver Ridge added 1.0 sen to 57.5 sen, while Cape EMS was 2.0 sen lower at 36.5 sen, Life Water eased 1.0 sen to 93 sen, Yew Lee Pacific Group inched down half-a-sen to 45 sen and TCS Group was flat at 15 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 37.75 points to 12,182.61, the FBM Emas Index advanced 26.70 points to 12,202.81, the FBMT 100 Index expanded 27.41 points to 11,904.79, the FBM 70 Index jumped 72.17 points to 17,990.32 and the FBM ACE Index was up by 16.40 points to 5,206.66.

Sector-wise, the Energy Index recovered 5.59 points to 835.69, the Financial Services Index edged up 0.94 of-a-point to 19,125.16, the Industrial Products and Services Index strengthened by 0.47 of-a-point to 170.90, and the Plantation Index firmed by 7.75 points to 7,672.21.  

-- BERNAMA