Bursa Malaysia Opens Higher, Tracking Wall Street Rally

By Durratul Ain Ahmad Fuad

KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Monday, tracking Wall Street’s rally last Friday, as investors shrugged off concerns over rising tensions between Ukraine and the United States (US).  

At 9.24 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.0 points to 1,578.70 from Friday’s close of 1,574.70.  

The benchmark index had opened 2.43 points lower at 1,572.27.  

On the broader market, advancers outpaced decliners 270 to 263, with 339 counters unchanged, 1,445 untraded and six suspended. 

Turnover stood at 474.97 million shares worth RM313.85 million.  

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said last Friday’s positive performance was also supported by signs of a slowdown in the US economy.  

“In view of this, market undertone remains fragile as the US 10-year yield eased to 4.203 per cent.  

“In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index tumbled almost 780 points to just below the 23,000 level on renewed concerns over US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs and a slowing US economy,” he told Bernama.  

He said daily surprises from Trump continued to dictate market direction, sidelining fundamentals for the time being.  

“As such, we expect the index to hover within the 1,570-1,580 range today, despite the recently concluded fourth-quarter earnings being deemed decent,” he added.  

Among heavyweights, Public Bank added three sen to RM4.56, CIMB climbed 19 sen to RM8.00, Tenaga Nasional gained 20 sen to RM13.80, while IHH Healthcare eased 13 sen to RM7.32 and Maybank was flat at RM10.72.  

As for actives, Genting Malaysia firmed five sen to RM1.95, MY E.G. picked up 1.5 sen to 89 sen, while Pantech Global Bhd, which debuted on the Main Market today, fell 16.5 sen to 51.5 sen. Cape EMS slipped 1.5 sen to 25.5 sen, and Ingenieur Gudang edged down half-a-sen to 3.5 sen.  

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 44.20 points to 11,780.52, the FBMT 100 Index gained 44.17 points to 11,540.74, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 20.36 points to 11,432.15.

The FBM 70 Index surged 123.65 points to 16,760.28, while the FBM ACE Index slipped 16.63 points to 4,740.36.  

By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.05 of-a-point to 158.30. The Energy Index rose 4.83 points to 758.97, and the Financial Services Index advanced 104.55 points to 19,431.50, but the Plantation Index fell 49.35 points to 7,560.35.

-- BERNAMA