Bursa Malaysia Rises on Wall Street Optimism

By Anas Abu Hassan

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Monday, buoyed by improved sentiment following Wall Street's strong performance last week, an analyst said.

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.13 points to 1,594.54, compared with Friday's close of 1,591.41. 

The benchmark index began the day 2.69 points higher at 1,594.10.  

The broader market was positive, with gainers outpacing decliners 167 to 149. Meanwhile, 264 counters remained unchanged, 1,853 were untraded, and 19 were suspended.

Turnover stood at 164.69 million units valued at RM57.31 million.  

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said US equities rebounded on Friday, bolstered by a tame personal consumption price index.  

He said sentiment was also buoyed after the US government averted a shutdown with the Senate’s approval of a three-month stopgap federal spending bill.

On the domestic front, Thong attributed the FBM KLCI’s weaker close last week around the 1,590-level to persistent foreign selling.  

“The key index is expected to stage a swift recovery today, tracking brighter prospects on Wall Street last Friday. We anticipate the index to hover within the 1,595-1,605 range,” he told Bernama.  

Among heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB rose two sen each to RM9.98 and RM7.97 respectively, Public Bank added one sen to RM4.47, Tenaga Nasional gained six sen to RM14.00, while IHH Healthcare eased one sen to RM7.01.  

For active stocks, Key Alliance and Velesto slipped half-a-sen each to 0.5 sen and 14.5 sen respectively.

Borneo Oil and TWL added half-a-sen each to one sen and three sen, while Aneka Jaringan shed one sen to 16 sen.  

On the index board, the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 11.45 points to 12,233.26, the FBMT 100 Index added 21.04 points to 11,929.64, and the FBM Emas Index rose 19.96 points to 12,242.90.

The FBM 70 Index advanced 23.76 points to 18,401.23, while the FBM ACE Index edged up 2.66 points to 5,271.31.  

By sector, the Financial Services Index gained 24.27 points to 18,727.62, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.38 of-a-point to 170.64, and the Energy Index increased 2.19 points to 806.30.  

Meanwhile, the Plantation Index eased 3.37 points to 7,293.90.  

-- BERNAMA