Bursa Malaysia Opens Higher On Regional Gains, Cautious Sentiment
By Abdul Hamid A Rahman
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Thursday, lifted by regional gains and cautious sentiment after Wall Street ended mixed overnight, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 advancing while the Dow edged lower.
At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.72 points to 1,616.27 from Wednesday’s close of 1,611.55, after opening 0.16 of-a-point lower at 1,611.39.
Market breadth was positive, with gainers leading losers 232 to 154, while 316 counters were unchanged, 1,970 untraded, and 18 suspended. Turnover stood at 249.51 million shares worth RM133.94 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street ended mixed in a volatile session, buoyed by strong earnings from Bank of America and Morgan Stanley, which lifted expectations for a better-than-expected earnings season.
“Meanwhile, the US 10-year Treasury yield remained flat at 4.03 per cent,” he told Bernama.
On the domestic front, Thong noted that the FBM KLCI closed flat amid continued foreign selling, but improving daily volumes indicated stronger retail participation. He expects the benchmark index to hover within the 1,610–1,620 range today.
Among heavyweights, Maybank added five sen to RM9.97, Tenaga Nasional rose six sen to RM13.24, while Public Bank and CIMB Group gained two sen to RM4.22 and RM7.36, respectively. IHH Healthcare was unchanged at RM8.07.
In active trading, Sedania Innovator advanced three sen to 29 sen, ECA Integrated climbed 1.5 sen to 26 sen, and Pegasus Heights gained half-a-sen to one sen. Dagang Nexchange fell half-a-sen to 28.5 sen, while TWL remained at two sen.
Top gainers included United Malacca, which rose 20 sen to RM5.90, Hong Leong Bank up 10 sen to RM20.74, and Genting, which added eight sen to RM3.48. Southern Cable and Kein Hing gained five sen each to RM2.23 and RM1.43.
Among the top losers, Malaysian Pacific Industries and Hong Leong Industries fell eight sen each to RM28.76 and RM13.56. OM Holdings slipped 5.5 sen to 74.5 sen, Rhone Ma Holdings declined five sen to 66 sen, while Hong Leong Financial eased four sen to RM16.96.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 35.06 points to 12,102.31, the FBMT 100 Index added 35.81 points to 11,825.67, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 21.11 points to 12,163.25, the FBM 70 Index jumped 57.52 points to 17,203.68, and the FBM ACE Index gained 13.25 points to 5,358.62.
By sector, the Financial Services Index advanced 78.84 points to 18,274.04, and the Energy Index increased 1.87 points to 801.90. The Plantation Index slipped 7.58 points to 7,838.77, while the Industrial Products and Services Index remained unchanged at 173.94.
-- BERNAMA
