Bursa Malaysia Opens Higher Tracking Wall Street Cues

By Danni Haizal Danial Donald

KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street spearheaded by tech stocks, amid West Asia uncertainties.

At 9.10 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose eight points, or 0.48 per cent, to 1,685.64 from Thursday's close of 1,677.64.

The benchmark index opened 5.14 points higher at 1,682.78.

Market breadth was positive, with gainers outnumbering decliners 208 to 85. A total of 279 counters were unchanged, 2,144 untraded, and 25 were suspended.

Turnover was 127.16 million shares worth RM70.78 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street rebounded overnight, supported by tech stocks and the easing of crude oil prices.

He said Brent crude oil eased to around US$76 per barrel amid reports that mediators are working to bring the United States and Iran back to the negotiating table.

“On the home front, we believe investors are staying on the sidelines with the main focus being this weekend’s Johor state election. We, therefore, anticipate the FBM KLCI to hover between 1,675 and 1,685 today,” he told Bernama.

Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank gained 10 sen to RM10.96, Public Bank edged up a sen to RM4.86, CIMB added four sen to RM7.64, IHH Healthcare advanced five sen to RM8.37, while Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM14.30.

Among active stocks, SRKK AI, Aemulus and Zetrix AI rose 1.5 sen each to 62.5 sen, 32.5 sen, and 74 sen, respectively.  SMRT inched up one sen to 20 sen, while MAG remained unchanged at 17.5 sen.

Among the top gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries added 34 sen to RM46.60, Allianz Malaysia rose 18 sen to RM21.30, Hong Leong Industries and Nestle each garnered 10 sen to RM18.74 and RM91.40, respectively.

KKB Engineering led the losers, falling seven sen to RM1.21. United Plantations shed six sen to RM34.34, Kelington slipped five sen to RM7.93, Hibiscus Petroleum narrowed three sen to RM1.99, and Petronas Chemicals was two sen lower at RM4.33.

Among the broader indices, the FBM Emas Index gained 55.34 points to 12,495.82, the FBMT 100 Index grew 57.09 points to 12,325.19, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index edged up 50.37 points to 12,330.65.

The FBM 70 Index perked up 76.78 points to 17,874.42, while the FBM ACE Index advanced 10.64 points to 4,901.73.

By sector, the Financial Services Index jumped 91.92 points to 19,920.0, the Plantation Index expanded 42.45 points to 9,119.43, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.41 of a point to 181.07. The Energy Index slid 0.11 of a point to 773.85.

-- BERNAMA