Bursa Malaysia opens marginally higher

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened marginally higher in cautious trading ahead of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting today.

At 9.07am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,627.08 points, up 0.15 of a point, from Tuesday's close of 1,626.93 .

The index opened 0.64 of a point higher at 1,627.57.

On the broader market, losers led gainers 127 to 81, with 133 counters unchanged, 1,367 untraded and 49 others were suspended.

Turnover stood at 91.03 million shares worth RM34.50 million.

Hong Leong Investment Bank said all eyes were focused on the outcome of OPEC's meeting which would decide if members are agreeable to a collective cut of 1.1 million barrels per day.

"The ringgit's weakening bias, subdued oil prices as well as the ongoing lacklustre third quarter reporting season will continue to determine local market sentiment," it said.

Among heavyweights, TNB and Sime Darby added two sen each to RM14.10 and RM8.17, respectively, Public Bank eased two sen to RM19.56 while Maybank and Petronas Chemicals were flat at RM7.89 abd RM6.80, respectively.

Of actives, Borneo Oil added half-a-sen to 15.5 sen, RGB International gained 1.5 sen to 25.5 sen, AirAsia X slid half-a-sen to 35 sen while Green Packet and Mulpha International were flat at 27.5 sen and 20.5 sen, respectively.

The FBM Emas Index fell 1.21 points to 11,376.45, the FBMT100 Index shed 3.46 points at 11,107.28, the FBM 70 was 20.43 points lower at 13,008.83, the FBM Ace shed 10.80 points to 4,760.90 and the FBM Emas Syariah Index improved 0.01 of a point to 11,918.60.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index was 5.42 points higher at 7,656.70, the Finance Index gained 1.57 points to 14,218.54 but the Industrial Index slid 3.28 points to 3,072.86.
The physical price of gold as at 9.30am stood at RM165.64 per gramme, up 36 sen from RM165.28 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama