KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 6): Bursa Malaysia opened higher across the board on Wednesday morning, buoyed by the positive market sentiment, echoing Wall Street’s overnight rebound.
At 9.06am, the benchmark FBM KLCI had risen 6.79 points to 1,537.21 from Tuesday’s close at 1,530.42.
It opened 0.95 of a point firmer at 1,531.37.
The overall market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing losers 304 to 117, while 276 counters were unchanged, 1,574 untraded and 12 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 205.39 million units worth RM123.13 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the key index might continue to trade higher in the near term, and investors might focus on technology stocks following the Nasdaq’s overnight rally.
“Additionally, the resumption of economic activities should support market sentiment and the recovery narrative, at least for now,” it said in a note on Wednesday.
The research firm also said firmer crude palm oil (CPO) and crude oil prices might spark buying interest in oil and gas as well as plantation stocks.
Crude oil prices stood at above the US$82 (about RM342.92) per barrel mark, while CPO prices advanced to close above RM4,700 per tonne on Tuesday.
Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) rose five sen to RM8.06, Public Bank Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd added one sen each to RM4.07 and RM4.73 respectively, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) soared 11 sen to RM8.80, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) increased seven sen to RM9.69 and IHH Healthcare Bhd was flat at RM6.60.
Of the actives, Bumi Armada Bhd, Tanco Holdings Bhd, Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd and Matang Bhd inched up half a sen each to 48.5 sen, 24 sen, 33 sen, 77.5 sen and 9.5 sen respectively, while HPMT Holdings Bhd gained 3.5 sen to 71.5 sen and SC Estate Builder Bhd perked 1.5 sen to 10.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 50.33 points to 11,330.08, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 46.55 points to 10,993.58, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 63.88 points to 12,400.83, the FBM 70 went up 55.56 points to 14,973.75 and the FBM ACE improved 46.62 points to 7,057.89.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index gained 2.12 points to 207.16, the Plantation Index soared 80.1 points to 6,484.34, and the Financial Services Index garnered 40.51 points to 15,142.54.-BERNAMA