Bursa Malaysia opens slightly higher
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened slightly higher today on bargain hunting in consumer-related counters and composite index-linked stocks.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.58 of a point higher at 1,634.62 from Tuesday's close of 1,634.04.
The index opened 0.12 of a point higher at 1,634.16.
Market breath was positive as gainers led losses 143 to 50, while 120 counters were unchanged, 1,414 untraded and 47 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 62.23 million shares worth RM36.25 million. A dealer said most global stock markets has recovered from the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union (Brexit).
He said the better performance on the local bourse was in line with the overnight rebound of Wall Street and improvement in global oil prices with the benchmark Brent Crude up 0.2% to US$49.36 (RM202.61).
Regionally, Japan's Nikkei improved 0.55% to 15,413.43, Singapore's Straits Times Index perked 0.55% to 2,771.68, South Korea's Kospi jumped 0.76% to 1,951.84 and the SSE of the Shanghai Stock Exchange gained 0.58% to 2,612.56.
Alliance DBS Research Analyst Teoh Chang Yeow said that buying power is expected to be stronger than selling pressure in today's market.
"As such, the FBM KLCI would likely trade above the 1,635.86 level," he added, in a note.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank, IHH Healthcare and Petronas Chemicals were flat at RM8.19, RM6.50 and RM6.46 respectively, TNB added two sen to RM14, and Public Bank gained six sen to RM19.24.
TM increased three sen to RM6.79, RHB Bank rose five sen to RM4.89, Sapura Kencana advanced two sen to RM1.44 and Digi was flat at RM4.73.
Among actives, Vsolar Group improved half-a-sen to nine sen, Comintel gained 6.5 sen to 85.5 sen, as Bumi Armada and Raya International improved one sen each to 1 sen and 21 sen respectively.
Of the gainers, Heineken increased 12 sen to RM15.30, SLP Resources was 11 sen better at RM3.00 and Ge-Shen bagged eight sen for RM1.94.
The FBM Emas Index increased 4.86 points to 11,408.16, the FBMT 100 Index added 5.24 points for 11,115.94 and the FBM Emas Syariah Index slid 3.71 points to 11,968.63.
The FBM 70 improved 10.97 points to 12,862.19 and the FBM Ace was 13.10 points lower at 5,163.86.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index advanced 32.92 points to 14,071.37, the Plantation Index declined 11.83 points to 7,538.44 and the Industrial Index rose 2.2 points to 3,065.77.
The physical price of gold as at 9.30am stood at RM166.61 per gramme, down 10 sen from RM166.71 at 5pm yesterday.— Bernama