KUALA LUMPUR (May 25): Bursa Malaysia opened higher in the early trading session on Wednesday (May 25), buoyed by renewed buying interest, amid mixed sentiment on regional markets, dealers said.
At 9.20am, the FBM KLCI had increased 6.54 points or 0.43% to 1,537.84 from Tuesday’s close at 1,531.30.
The benchmark index opened 0.47 point higher at 1,531.77.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 224 to 175, while 254 counters were unchanged, 1,656 untraded and 24 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 288.65 million units worth RM120.54 million.
In a research note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the selldown of technology stocks on Wall Street on Tuesday night may spill over to the technology sector on the local front on Wednesday.
“However, we still expect selected stocks in the consumer and real estate investment trust sectors to outperform the market on the back of business recovery catalysts.
“On commodity markets, crude oil traded above US$113 (about RM496.41) per barrel, while crude palm oil (CPO) prices hovered around RM6,450. As both crude oil and CPO prices traded higher, we believe investors should favour energy and plantation counters. Traders may avoid technology stocks given the selldown on Wall Street overnight,” it said.
Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and IHH Healthcare Bhd rose one sen each to RM8.97 and RM6.41 respectively, Public Bank Bhd added four sen to RM4.54 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd earned six sen to RM10.02.
Of the actives, Sapura Energy Bhd gained half a sen to 9.0 sen, whereas KNM Group Bhd improved one sen to 16.5 sen, while Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd and MNC Wireless Bhd were flat at 10 sen and 1.5 sen respectively.
On the index board, the FBM ACE gained 38.92 points to 5,230.36, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 39.23 points to 11,390.19, the FBM Emas Index improved 35.78 points to 10,986.06, the FBMT100 Index bagged 37.38 points to 10,659.52 and the FBM70 strengthened 13.63 points to 13,095.20.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.21 of a point higher at 198.81, the Financial Services Index advanced 62.95 points to 16,537.52 and the Plantation Index advanced 85.85 points to 8,080.78.-BERNAMA