Bursa Malaysia Trades Higher At Opening

By Rosemarie Khoo Mohd Sani

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 6 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia continued its positive performance at the opening on Thursday, with buying led by the industrial products and construction counters, analysts said. 

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 1.34 points to 1,575.85, from Wednesday’s close of 1,574.51.  

The benchmark index opened 1.92 points firmer at 1,576.43.

On the broader market, gainers led decliners 152 to 88, while 276 counters were unchanged, 1,785 untraded and 12 suspended.

Turnover stood at 152.39 million units worth RM91.08 million. 

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI maintained its climb to close above the 1,570 mark on Wednesday, indicating that foreign selling may be done for now.

“We are still adamant that flight of funds from overseas will eventually land in Asia, given the reasonable valuations where the risk-reward ratio is better.

“That said, we still need to see if prevailing stock accumulation is sustainable, hence, we expect the benchmark index to hover within the 1,570-1,580 range today,” he told Bernama. 

On the external front, he noted that Wall Street ended higher as traders looked past the prevailing tariff uncertainties, underscored by strong earnings from a selection of tech-based companies.

However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index eased by almost 200 points as sentiments were weighed down by United States President Donald Trump’s tariff uncertainty amid the ongoing trade tension. 

Back home, heavyweights Petronas Chemicals and YTL Power International increased 4.0 sen each to RM4.37 and RM3.21, respectively, Gamuda rose 7.0 sen to RM4.45, Tenaga gained 6.0 sen to RM13.68 and Maxis added 2.0 sen to RM3.53. 

Northern Solar led the list of the most active stocks, improving by 29 sen to 92 sen, and MYEG added half-a-sen to 97.5 sen, while Harvest Miracle Capital, Vinvest Capital, and TWL were flat each at 19.5 sen, 8.0 sen and 2.5 sen respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index strengthened 12.52 points to 12,036.27, the FBMT 100 Index grew 12.11 points to 11,727.98, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 19.87 points higher at 11,890.91.

The FBM ACE Index appreciated 13.23 points to 5,300.74 and the FBM 70 Index increased 26.70 points to 17,862.70.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index reduced by 9.48 points to 19,052.25 and the Plantation Index fell 5.42 points to 7,425.83, while the Industrial Products and Services Index put on 0.56 of-a-point to 165.77 and the Energy Index grew by 1.16 points to 822.70. 

-- BERNAMA