Bursa Malaysia Snaps Two-day Slide At Open

KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Wednesday, snapping a two-day losing streak, in line with gains across regional markets.

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.96 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 1,532.10 from Tuesday’s close of 1,530.14. 

The benchmark index had earlier opened 1.14 points lower at 1,529.0.

Gainers outpaced losers 142 to 94, while 221 counters were unchanged, 1,950 untraded, and nine suspended.

Turnover stood at 117.03 million shares worth RM54.19 million.

The local market tracked regional peers, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index up 1.09 per cent at 24,148.07, Singapore’s Straits Times Index gaining 0.13 per cent to 4,053.13, and South Korea’s Kospi edging up 0.09 per cent to 3,117.67. Japan’s Nikkei 225, however, slipped 0.11 per cent to 39,645.78.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said sentiment remained cautious as the FBM KLCI had hovered just above the 1,530 mark.

“Again, we suspect the selling was led by foreign funds, which began offloading positions since Monday ahead of today’s expiry of tariff deals.

“For today, we expect the index to trend between 1,520 and 1,530 amid ongoing tariff uncertainty,” he told Bernama.

CIMB Group led heavyweight gainers, rising six sen to RM6.67. Sunway climbed seven sen to RM4.82, YTL Corporation added three sen to RM2.48, and its unit YTL Power advanced two sen to RM4.18.

Among other heavyweights, Maybank slipped two sen to RM9.68, while Public Bank eased one sen to RM4.33.

In active trade, ACE Market debutant PCMK rose 1.5 sen to 23.5 sen. Pharmaniaga added one sen to 15.5 sen, Auro inched up half-a-sen to 17 sen, while NEXG and Borneo Oil were flat at 43.5 sen and half-a-sen, respectively.

On the broader index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 22.28 points to 11,490.42, the FBMT 100 Index rose 22.62 points to 11,260.53, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 26.29 points to 11,458.73.

The FBM 70 Index climbed 69.25 points to 16,607.15, while the FBM ACE Index edged down 2.84 points to 4,469.50.

By sector, the Financial Services Index added 5.91 points to 17,619.43, the Plantation Index was up 2.89 points at 7,431.81, and the Energy Index rose 1.61 points to 735.15. The Industrial Products and Services Index improved 0.16 of-a-point to 153.91.

-- BERNAMA