Bursa Opens Slightly Higher On Upbeat Wall Street 

KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened slightly higher on Tuesday, tracking gains from upbeat overnight Wall Street amid the United States (US) trade policy uncertainties.

At 9.11 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched up 0.09 of a point to 1,537.60 from Monday’s close of 1,537.51.

The benchmark index had opened 1.45 points lower at 1,536.06.

Market breadth was positive, with gainers outnumbering decliners 198 to 120, while 256 counters were unchanged, 1,855 untraded, and eight suspended.

Turnover stood at 124.59 million shares worth RM70.13 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the overnight session saw buying interest in both Wall Street and US Treasuries, despite the recent announcement of blanket tariffs.

Although the brokerage said there has been little progress towards de-escalating the trade wars, and it anticipates that sentiment may remain positive amid a recovery in the US dollar index.

“Despite the ongoing trade war with uncertain US trade policies, we believe it may drive tighter inspection protocols and regulatory compliance, leading to greater demand for security screening machines,” it said in a note today.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose one sen to RM9.73, Public Bank and CIMB fell two sen each to RM4.32 and RM6.67, respectively, Tenaga Nasional added four sen to RM13.94, while IHH Healthcare was flat at RM6.59.

In active trade, NexG, Eldrige Energy and Hartanah Kenyalang were all half a sen lower at 47.5 sen, 64 sen and 16 sen, respectively. Both TWL and JAKS Resources remained unchanged at 2.5 sen and 10 sen, respectively.

On the broader index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 11.13 points to 11,569.59, the FBMT 100 Index gained 9.74 points to 11,330.78, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 19.77 points to 11,580.37.

The FBM 70 Index advanced 54.07 points to 16,841.27, while the FBM ACE Index inched up 9.47 points to 4,580.99.

By sector, the Financial Services Index declined 29.84 points to 17,634.03, the Energy Index edged down 1.25 points to 746.13, while the Plantation Index improved 3.92 points to 7,438.02, and the Industrial Products and Services Index ticked up 0.61 of a point to 154.48.

-- BERNAMA