Bursa Malaysia Opens Higher, Tracking Wall Street And Asian Gains

By Karina Imran

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Monday, following gains on Wall Street and across major Asian markets, as indices rebounded sharply after last week’s sell-off, an analyst said.

At 9.30 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 7.99 points to 1,740.82, after opening 11.91 points higher at 1,744.74, compared with Friday’s close of 1,732.83.

On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 489 to 156, while 342 counters were unchanged. A total of 1,676 counters were untraded, with 17 suspended.

Market turnover stood at 412.75 million shares, valued at RM252.78 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) ended at a record high above the 50,000 mark, while the US 10-year yield was flat at 4.206 per cent.

“Back home, the FBM KLCI managed to eke out a positive ending, clearly showing that the local bourse is well supported by underlying stock accumulation.

“After a choppy week, we expect a steadier rebound, with the index likely to hover within the 1,730-1,750 range today, hoping that foreign funds will continue to flow in,” he told Bernama.

Among heavyweights, Maybank added four sen to RM11.98, CIMB gained 10 sen to RM8.56, Tenaga Nasional advanced 14 sen to RM14.08, and IHH Healthcare climbed two sen to RM8.82, while Public Bank fell three sen to RM4.94.

On the most active list, MMAG Holdings inched up half-a-sen to 5.5 sen, Zetrix AI rose five sen to 73.5 sen, Ambest Group gained 1.5 sen to 36 sen, and Capital A increased 2.5 sen to 59.5 sen, while TWL Holdings was flat at 2.5 sen.

Top gainers included Nestle, up RM1.20 to RM113.50; Malaysian Pacific Industries, up 78 sen to RM31.18; Fraser & Neave Holdings, up 54 sen to RM33.48; and United Plantations, up 40 sen to RM29.40.

Leading decliners were Paragon Union and Hextar Technologies Solutions, down six sen each to RM3.57 and RM1.11, respectively. Plenitude and Gromutual fell five sen to RM1.79 and 25 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index recovered 72.63 points to 12,543.62, the FBM Emas Index rose 73.52 points to 12,713.21, the FBM Mid 70 Index advanced 168.59 points to 17,402.71, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 93.60 points to 12,199.09, and the FBM ACE Index increased 39.68 points to 4,670.47.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index strengthened 66.67 points to 21,543.61, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.89 points to 175.36, the Plantation Index grew 32.30 points to 8,355.93, and the Energy Index recovered 3.13 points to 742.14.

-- BERNAMA