By Durratul Ain Ahmad Fuad
KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened higher today, tracking Wall Street’s overnight gains as hopes grew for a resolution of the West Asia conflict, coupled with positive domestic economic data.
At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 4.53 points to 1,712.89 from yesterday’s close of 1,708.36. The benchmark index opened 3.35 points higher at 1,711.71.
On the broader market, gainers surpassed losers 211 to 176, while 330 counters were unchanged, 2,001 untraded, and 63 suspended.
Turnover stood at 216.59 million shares valued at RM106.09 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said that while Wall Street ended higher, crude oil prices declined, with Brent crude dipping to US$102 per barrel, while the US 10-year yield remained flat at 4.57 per cent.
“In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell to below the 25,400 mark, erasing all gains during the morning session as sentiment became edgy following the spike in US 10-year yield to above the 4.6 per cent again, hence the sell-down on tech stocks,” he told Bernama.
Back home, Thong expects the FBM KLCI to hover within the 1,700-1,715 range today.
According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), Malaysia’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.9 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in April 2026 to 136.9, while labour productivity stood at RM45.5 per hour worked in the first quarter of 2026 (1Q 2026), growing by 4.8 per cent.
On the broader picture, the national economy continued to grow by 5.4 per cent in 1Q 2026 to RM437.7 billion, compared with 6.2 per cent in the previous quarter.
Among heavyweight stocks, Public Bank and CIMB added three sen to RM4.80 and RM7.78, IHH Healthcare was one sen higher at RM8.93, while Maybank and Tenaga Nasional were flat at RM11.04 and RM14.46, respectively.
Among active stocks, SkyeChip rose 10 sen to RM2.43, HHRG was 1.5 sen lower at nine sen, while Gold Li, GIIB and V.S Industry were flat at 12 sen, 39.5 sen and 19.5 sen.
Top gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries, which advanced 58 sen to RM46.78, Fraser & Neave, which advanced 32 sen to RM29.30, BM Greentech, which gained 26 sen to RM1.37, LPI Capital, which rose 24 sen to RM15.24, and Petronas Chemicals, which added 12 sen to RM5.57.
Among top losers, Petronas Dagangan fell 28 sen to RM18.52, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing lost 23 sen to RM14.13, Ta Ann declined 11 sen to RM5.50, C.I. shed 10 sen to RM2.45, and APM Automotive slipped nine sen to RM3.05.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 30.83 points to 12,700.71, the FBM Top 100 Index rose 30.83 points to 12,542.31, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 34.74 points to 12,603.32, the FBM Mid 70 Index expanded 35.0 points to 18,265.82, and the FBM ACE Index fell 5.16 points to 4,673.08.
By sector, the Financial Services Index rose 46.83 points to 20,069.80, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.18 points to 198.60, the Energy Index put on 4.59 points to 781.50, and the Plantation Index rose 8.97 points to 8,566.37.
-- BERNAMA
