Bursa Malaysia Opens Higher On Improved Sentiment

By Nurunnasihah Ahmad Rashid

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 16 (Bernama) --Bursa Malaysia rebounded to open higher today, buoyed by improved sentiments following Wall Street’s better performance overnight.

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) improved 11.20 points or 0.71 per cent to 1,573.32 from Wednesday’s close of 1,562.12. 

The benchmark index opened 10.49 points higher at 1,572.61.

On the broader market, gainers led decliners 328 to 83, while 226 counters were unchanged, 1,738 untraded, and nine suspended.

Turnover stood at 316.43 million units valued at RM151.54 million.

UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan said the improvement in the local market was evident as investors cheered the easing of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, following the confirmation of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza.

It was reported that the agreement will enter into effect on Sunday, January 19.

Additionally, market concerns eased with cooler-than-expected United States (US) core consumer price index (CPI) data, while the Bank of Korea kept its interest rates unchanged.

These developments are expected to spur increased bargain-hunting in the market, Mohd Sedek told Bernama.

Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of Equity Research, Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street rebounded with a vengeance after the US CPI came in slightly lower than expected in December, suggesting that the US interest rate hike may be off the table for now.

As a result, the US Treasury 10-year yield eased below the 4.7 per cent level to 4.655 per cent.

Back home, he said the FBM KLCI continued to be pressured by foreign selling, leading it to close at just above the 1,560 mark yesterday.

“We suspect foreign funds may be off-loading their position ahead of Trump’s inauguration, and thereafter, we will gauge his move on tariffs.

“As we moved halfway into January, the index has already slid by five per cent. Nonetheless, we believe this presents an excellent opportunity to accumulate shares and thus expect the index to hover within the 1,565-1,580 range today,” he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank gained two sen to RM10.16, Public Bank bagged five sen to RM4.45, CIMB increased 11 sen to RM7.96 and Tenaga jumped 18 sen to RM13.68, while IHH was flat at RM7.10.

Among the active stocks, newly listed CBH Engineering Holding Bhd added 5.5 sen to 33.5 sen, while Velocity Capital, Aimflex and Mestron were half-a-sen higher at 8.5 sen, 15 sen and 26.5 sen respectively.

On the broader index, the FBM Emas Index gained 91.44 points to 12,043.16, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 89.22 points to 11,918.26, and the FBMT 100 Index climbed 90.20 points to 11,732.65.

The FBM 70 Index improved 162.87 points to 17,955.43, while the FBM ACE Index increased 37.79 points to 5,188.99.

Sector-wise, the Energy Index expanded by 7.84 points to 829.63, the Financial Services Index widened by 123.68 points to 18,790.60, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.53 of-a-point to 166.58, and the Plantation Index gained 21.53 points to 7,391.54.

-- BERNAMA