Bursa Malaysia Opens Higher On Improved Sentiment After ASEAN Summit
By Abdul Hamid A Rahman
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Wednesday, lifted by improved investor sentiment following the conclusion of the ASEAN Summit and in line with overnight gains on Wall Street.
At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.09 points to 1,616.65 from Tuesday’s close of 1,613.56, after opening 1.01 points higher at 1,614.57.
Market breadth was positive, with 171 gainers outpacing 144 losers, while 272 counters were unchanged, 2,149 untraded and 77 suspended. Turnover stood at 178.78 million shares valued at RM94.08 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said strong buying in technology stocks had pushed the Nasdaq to fresh record highs, while the Federal Reserve commenced its two-day policy meeting.
“Domestically, we remain optimistic, buoyed by improving market volume, which indicates broader participation. We expect the benchmark index to trend within the 1,610–1,620 range today,” he added.
Among heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB Group added three sen each to RM9.91 and RM7.42, respectively, Tenaga Nasional gained two sen to RM13.24, Public Bank rose one sen to RM4.22, and IHH Healthcare expanded six sen to RM8.34.
On the most active list, TWL Holdings, EA Holdings and HHRG were unchanged at 2.5 sen, 0.5 sen and 7.5 sen respectively. Tanco gained one sen to 91.5 sen, while Perak Transit eased 0.5 sen to 39 sen.
Top gainers included Nestle, which rose RM2.30 to RM109.40, United Plantations added 24 sen to RM24.32, Malayan Cement gained 16 sen to RM6.58, Kuala Lumpur Kepong advanced 14 sen to RM21.00, and Sam Engineering rose 12 sen to RM5.05.
Top losers included Petronas Dagangan, down eight sen to RM22.38, Apex Healthcare fell six sen to RM2.41, Pimpinan Ehsan eased four sen to 77.5 sen, while Chin Hin and KESM Industries shed three sen each to RM2.21 and RM3.40.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 18.24 points to 12,084.33, the FBMT 100 Index rose 19.62 points to 11,826.98, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 18.80 points to 12,170.81, the FBM 70 Index increased 15.70 points to 17,199.23, while the FBM ACE Index slipped 6.55 points to 5,173.70.
By sector, the Financial Services Index advanced 33.95 points to 18,227.26, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.59 of-a-point to 171.54, the Energy Index climbed 2.26 points to 775.34, and the Plantation Index strengthened 24.48 points to 8,003.56.
-- BERNAMA
