Bursa Malaysia Opens Higher Amid Hopes Of Easing West Asia Tensions

KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Wednesday, tracking gains in regional markets amid optimism over potential easing of tensions in West Asia.

At 9.15 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 6.13 points to 1,694.25, from Tuesday’s close of 1,688.12.  

The benchmark index opened 3.30 points higher at 1,691.42. 

Market breadth was positive, with 309 gainers outpacing 155 decliners. A total of 270 counters were unchanged, 1,995 untraded, and 13 suspended.

Turnover stood at 462.21 million shares worth RM187.96 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said the market was supported by expectations of a possible de-escalation of tensions in West Asia, with the United States (US) and Iran potentially resuming negotiations.

“Traders are optimistic that a deal between the US and Iran is still on the cards. As such, Brent crude declined to below the US$95 per barrel level.

“Back home, the FBM KLCI’s positive performance was attributed to improved regional sentiment amid selective bargain hunting activities. For today, we expect the index to trend within the 1,685-1,700 range,” it said in a note today.

Among heavyweights, Maybank gained 12 sen to RM11.16, Public Bank added two sen to RM4.66, CIMB rose five sen to RM7.60, while Tenaga Nasional and IHH each slipped four sen to RM14.28 and RM8.71, respectively.

On the most active list, ACE Market debutant 5E Resources edged up 1.5 sen to 27.5 sen, MMAG was flat at four sen, TWL eased half-a-sen to two sen, while AirAsia X gained three sen to RM1.22 and Zetrix was up half-a-sen to 77.5 sen.

Among top gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries strengthened RM1.12 to RM31.76, Dutch Lady gained 46 sen to RM32.26, Allianz Malaysia rose 20 sen to RM20.82, SAM Engineering grew 19 sen to RM3.51, and Hong Leong Bank was 18 sen higher to RM21.98.

Besides Tenaga Nasional, other top losers included Petronas Chemicals, which fell 14 sen to RM5.76, Nestle reduced 12 sen to RM98.92, Gas Malaysia trimmed 10 sen to RM5.50, and APM Automotive slid eight sen to RM3.07.

On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index increased by 46.98 points to 12,298.87, the FBM Emas Index added 49.10 points to 12,455.35, the FBM Mid 70 Index went up 77.48 points to 17,453.74, the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 25.43 points to 12,338.02, and the FBM ACE Index was up 32.70 points to 4,500.41.

By sector, the Financial Services Index surged by 149.21 points to 19,822.08, while the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.65 of a point to 187.0, the Plantation Index slipped 34.88 points to 8,905.90, and the Energy Index shed 4.18 points to 819.35.

-- BERNAMA