Bursa Malaysia Opens Higher, Tracking Wall Street Gains
By Durratul Ain Ahmad Fuad
KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Tuesday, buoyed by Wall Street gains and supported by broad-based buying across regional markets.
At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 5.61 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 1,702.17 from Monday’s close of 1,696.56.
The benchmark index had opened 6.60 points higher at 1,703.16.
Market breadth was positive, with 187 gainers outpacing 125 losers. A total of 195 counters were unchanged, 2,214 untraded, and 21 suspended.
Turnover stood at 190.68 million shares worth RM96.04 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said sentiment was lifted by a cooling crude oil price, with Brent crude easing to just above US$100 per barrel, although overall trading remained lacklustre.
“Meanwhile, the US 10-year yield eased to 4.222 per cent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rebounded with a view to test the 26,000 level again. Buying was spearheaded by tech stocks deemed undervalued, as traders looked beyond the protracted Middle East conflict,” he told Bernama.
On the local front, he said some foreign funds may be locking in profits after the FBM KLCI closed lower yesterday amid prevailing uncertainty.
“Today, we expect the index to hover between 1,695 and 1,705. Crude oil has eased, with Brent crude now trading at US$101 per barrel,” he added.
Among heavyweights, Maybank rose 6.0 sen to RM11.54, Public Bank added 2.0 sen to RM4.82, CIMB gained 5.0 sen to RM7.85, Tenaga Nasional edged up 8.0 sen to RM14.26, and IHH Healthcare advanced 3.0 sen to RM8.92.
On the most active list, ACE Market debutant Adnex rose 6.0 sen to 26 sen, Pharmaniaga added 2.0 sen to 27.5 sen, Handal Energy and Alpha IVF inched up half-a-sen each to 3.5 sen and 28 sen, while Fitters Diversified remained flat at 2.0 sen.
Top gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries, up 52 sen to RM30.50; United Plantation, up 14 sen to RM33.40; Itmax and Hong Leong Bank, both up 12 sen to RM4.56 and RM22.56, respectively; and KESM Industries, up 10 sen to RM3.00.
Top losers were Petronas Chemicals, down 12 sen to RM4.46; Hengyuan Refining and Malayan Cement, down 8.0 sen each to RM1.57 and RM6.55; while Dialog and Westports Holdings eased 6.0 sen each to RM1.86 and RM5.94.
On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index gained 33.35 points to 12,262.89, the FBM Emas Index rose 33.01 points to 12,417.78, the FBM ACE Index advanced 5.57 points to 4,380.06, the FBM 70 Index added 14.27 points to 17,003.09, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 16.64 points to 12,124.65.
By sector, the Financial Services Index jumped 94.38 points to 20,506.21, the Plantation Index rose 10.71 points to 8,528.54, while the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 0.31 of-a-point to 174.71, and the Energy Index fell 6.86 points to 782.10.
-- BERNAMA