KUALA LUMPUR (March 29): Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Monday in line with a steady closing at Wall Street last Friday.
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At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched up 0.93 of-a-point to 1,602.35 from Friday’s close of 1,601.42.
The index opened 2.17 points better at 1,603.26.
On the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 319 to 164, while 299 counters were unchanged, 1,450 untraded and 51 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 381.73 billion shares worth RM163.57 billion.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd the local market sentiment may extend last Friday’s positive move on Wall Street, but the continued political developments may cap the upside potential on the local bourse.
Meanwhile, oil price may see improvement amid concerns over Suez Canal blockage which may potentially lead to some supply disruptions.
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“Moreover, market players may focus on shipping rates in the near term. We reckon the oil and gas counters may attract some buying interest, while the shipping industry could be on a lookout as the market could be speculating higher shipping rates over the near term,” Malacca Securities said in a research note.
Apart from that, the brokerage firm said traders might trade into vaccine-related counters following the smooth COVID-19 vaccine rollout plan on the local front.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank rose two sen each to RM8.27 and RM4.21, respectively, Petronas Chemicals advanced six sen to RM7.96, TNB appreciated eight sen to RM10.88, Hong Leong Bank was flat at RM18.78, IHH Healthcare declined six sen to RM5.35, CIMB fell one sen to RM4.43, and Top Glove trimmed four sen to RM5.11.
As for the active counters, Straits Inter Logistics advanced three sen to 26.5 sen, Widad was 2.5 sen higher at 16.5 sen, Eastern & Oriental increased three sen to 61.5 sen, Minda Global improved 1.5 sen to 8.5 sen, Teladan Setia bagged one sen to 64 sen, and MMAG decreased 1.5 sen to 34 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index expanded 24.01 points to 11,802.3, the FBM 70 increased 54.75 points to 15,605.21, the FBMT 100 gained 15.42 points to 11,459.4, the FBM ACE jumped 31.32 points to 10,549.43, and the FBM Emas Shariah rose 18.32 points to 13,096.48.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index eked 54.62 points to 15,354.91, the Plantation Index went up 5.79 points to 7,106.24, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.63 of-a-point to 192.04.-The Edge Market