KL shares open higher on bargain hunting

KUALA LUMPUR: Shares on Bursa Malaysia rebounded to open higher, erasing yesterday's losses, prompted by fresh bargain hunting, with selected heavyweights leading the list of top gainers.

At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,617.47 points, up 0.83 of-a-point, from Monday's close of 1,616.64.

The local index opened 0.72 of-a-point better at 1,617.36.

Gainers led losers 95 to 58, while 139 counters remained unchanged, 1,400 untraded and 16 others were suspended.

Turnover stood at 35.29 million shares worth RM22.66 million.

The local index came under heavy selling pressure yesterday, falling by 17.55 points or 1.07% to close at 1,616.64, mainly driven by worries over the heightened possibility of a hike in US interest rates under newly-elected President Donald Trump.

A dealer said some traders took advantage of yesterday's decline to accumulate quality stocks at cheaper prices.

Leading the top gainers list were Genting, up nine sen at RM7.64, Public Bank rose eight sen to RM19.60 and Genting Malaysia increased six sen to RM4.55.

Other heavyweights, TNB eased two sen to RM14.12, Maybank was flat at RM7.67 and Petronas Chemicals added six sen to RM6.87.

Top losers, on the other hand, were Petronas Dagangan, down 28 sen to RM23.22, Kuala Lumpur Kepong declined 12 sen to RM23.42 and Muda Holding fell 10 sen to RM1.51.

Of actives, Sedania and RGB added half-a-sen each to 25 sen, respectively, while Gadang rose four sen to RM2.67.

The FBM Emas Index added 10.33 points to 11,396.26, the FBMT100 Index rose 10.49 points to 11,108.3 and the FBM Emas Syariah Index gained 9.1 points to 11,992.89.

The FBM 70 increased 29.72 points to 13,252.52 and the FBM Ace rose 2.65 points to 4,922.54.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index was 12.74 points better at 7,749.86 but the Finance Index lost 10.95 points to 14,112.67 and the Industrial Index trimmed 2.49 points to 3,056.68.
The physical price of gold as at 9.30am stood at RM165.31 per gramme, up 83 sen from RM164.48 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama