KUALA LUMPUR: KL shares opened higher today in tracking the gains on Wall Street amid steadied crude oil prices.
At 9.05 am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) surged 11.82 points to 1,706.03 from Thursday’s close of 1,694.21.
The index opened 11.60 points higher at 1,705.81 today.
Market breadth was positive with gainers outnumbering losers 183 to 52, with 138 counters unchanged, 1,508 untraded and 20 others suspended.
Volume stood at 85.92 million units valued at RM55.59 million.
In a note today, Public Investment Bank Bhd said the FBM KLCI was higher as Wall Street managed to look beyond the Brexit headlines and took a more optimistic view of the US-China trade picture.
Meanwhile, crude oil prices showed steady improvement with benchmark Brent crude price rising to US$66.62 per barrel at 9.05 am.
Maybank Investment Bank Bhd (Maybank IB) said as the commodities rout took a break, bargain hunting is likely to resume with the spotlight now focused further on export-related stocks following a decline in the ringgit.
“Technically, we expect the FBM KLCI to range between the levels of 1,680 and 1,720 today, while downside supports are 1,680 and 1,658,“ it added.
Among heavyweights, Maybank rose six sen to RM9.44, Tenaga jumped 10 sen to RM14.92, Petronas Chemicals ticked up one sen to RM9.41, CIMB was seven sen better at RM5.66 but Public Bank declined two sen to RM24.48.
Of actives, Tatt Giap and Hibiscus edged up one sen each to 23.5 sen and RM1.07 respectively, Permaju added 1.5 sen to 41.5 sen, PUC was half-a-sen firmer at 15 sen while Sapura was unchanged at 36.5 sen.
Nestle was the top gainer, bagging RM1.50 to RM145.90, while Batu Kawan led the top losers list by giving up 28 sen to RM16.28.
The FBM Emas Index climbed 79.14 points to 11,853.96, the FBMT 100 Index put on 80.58 points to 11,692.72, the FBM 70 strengthened 94.20 points to 13,923.92 and the FBM Ace Index was 13.78 points better at 4,958.24.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index jumped 93.01 points to 11,961.29.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index accumulated 85.94 points to 17,287.46, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.87 point to 173.98 and the Plantation Index was 39.04 points firmer at 7,274.66.
Gold futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives were untraded in the early session today.
At 9.44 am, November 2018, December 2018, January 2019 and February 2019 were unchanged at RM163.30, RM163.30, RM163.40 and RM163.50 per gramme respectively.
Volume was nil, while open interest amounted to 28 contracts.
At 9.30 am, the price of physical gold was up eight sen at RM158.31 per gramme. — Bernama
