Bursa opens higher, tracking positive Wall Street cue
Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Monday, tracking Wall Street’s positive performance last week.
At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) added 1.54 points to 1,610.69 from Friday’s close of 1,609.15, after opening 1.64 points firmer at 1,610.79.
Market breadth was positive, with gainers outpacing decliners 214 to 153, while 333 counters were unchanged, 1,937 untraded and 13 suspended.
Turnover stood at 195.89 million shares worth RM121.96 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said investors reacted favourably to strong corporate earnings and sustained interest in artificial intelligence-related counters in the United States market.
“Meanwhile, the US 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.083% after the Federal Reserve signalled that a rate cut in December is unlikely,” he noted.
Thong added that although foreign selling pressured the FBM KLCI last week, bargain-hunting is expected to emerge, with the benchmark index anticipated to trend between 1,605 and 1,615 today.
Among heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB Group improved two sen to RM9.89 and RM7.32, respectively. Public Bank and IHH Healthcare bagged one sen to RM4.23 and RM8.26, respectively, while Tenaga Nasional remained unchanged at RM13.28.
On the most active list, Dagang Nexchange improved two sen to 32.5 sen, and Digistar Corp added half-a-sen to 6.5 sen. Genting Malaysia and MAG Holdings were unchanged at RM2.33 and 17 sen, respectively, while Careplus eased 1.5 sen to eight sen.
Top gainers, Nestle surged RM1.10 to RM114.10, Malaysian Pacific climbed 76 sen to RM30.76, Fraser & Neave added 34 sen to RM28.50, Malayan Cement rose 14 sen to RM7.00, and KESM Industries improved eight sen to RM3.71.
Top losers included Petronas Dagangan, which shed 20 sen to RM22.48, MMAG slid 19.5 sen to 26.5 sen, MISC fell 13 sen to RM7.66, HI Mobility trimmed seven sen to RM2.42, and Petronas Gas slid six sen to RM18.44.
On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index added 16.82 points to 11,777.99, the FBM Emas Shariah Index elevated 3.43 points to 12,101.54, the FBM ACE Index gained 12.12 points to 5,233.51, the FBM Emas Index strengthened 13.88 points to 12,037.24, and the FBM Mid 70 Index improved 48.73 points to 17,104.80.
By sector, the Financial Services Index added 24.18 points to 18,147.45, the Plantation Index increased 13.67 points to 8,000.76, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.20 of-a-point to 171.81, while the Energy Index eased 0.88 of-a-point to 770.36.
Meanwhile, trading in the securities of GPP Resources Bhd resumes at 10am today, after being halted at 9am, according to Bursa Malaysia.
