KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): Bursa Malaysia opened higher in the early trading session on Monday (Feb 7), lifted by some heavyweights in the healthcare sector amid an increase in daily Covid-19 cases in the country, an analyst said.
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Malaysia recorded 10,089 new infections on Sunday, bringing the cumulative figure to 2,914,220.
At 9.10am, the benchmark FBM KLCI had improved 5.96 points to 1,528.72 from 1,522.76 at last Friday’s close after opening 2.47 points higher at 1,525.23.
Market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 255 to 121, while 237 counters were unchanged, 1,603 untraded and 22 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 211.82 million units worth RM120.25 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, in a note, said the healthcare sector may come under limelight amid surging new Covid-19 infections.
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“Nevertheless, the local bourse could remain volatile with daily cases breaching above the 10,000 mark on Sunday under the Omicron wave,” it said.
Among the heavyweights, Top Glove Corp Bhd advanced 11 sen to RM2.28, Hartalega Holdings Bhd improved 13 sen to RM5.73, Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd added 18 sen to RM6.39 and Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) gained four sen to RM8.30.
As for the actives, Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX) rose two sen to RM1.03, AT Systematization Bhd inched up half a sen to three sen and Alam Maritim Resources Bhd stayed flat at 3.5 sen.
On the index board, FBM ACE advanced 42.82 points to 6,228.56, FBM 70 strengthened 53.10 points to 13,532.35, FBM Emas Index firmed 44.30 points to 11,003.87, FBMT 100 Index gained 41.71 points to 10,684.64 and FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 68.40 points to 11,735.21.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index added 26.34 points to 15,812.03, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 1.80 points better at 205.10, and the Plantation Index was 0.89 of a point higher at 6,544.75.-BERNAMA