Bursa Malaysia opens easier and rebounds thereafter
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened marginally easier but rebounded thereafter supported by buying interest mainly in finance-related counters.
At 9.15am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.56 of-a-point better at 1,718.14 versus last Friday's close of 1,717.58.
The index opened 0.83 of-a-point easier at 1,716.75.
Maybank and CIMB rose three sen each to RM8.80 and RM5.40, respectively, while Public Bank added four sen to RM19.84.
Market breath was positive as gainers outpaced decliners 226 to 169 with 272 counters unchanged, 1,045 untraded and 23 others were suspended.
Turnover stood at 384.10 million shares worth RM247.11 million.
A dealer said the local bourse opened the week on a positive note, in line with its Asian peers.
Hong Kong Hang Seng increased 67.11 points to 23,568.67, Nikkei 225 improved 20.86 points to 19,625.47 but China's Shanghai Composite was 3.99 points lower at 3,212.76.
"However, this positive momentum might not prolong as the US reported a strong jobs data ahead of the interest rate hike and as oil prices declined to a 3 1/2-month low," the dealer said.
The FBM Emas Index inched up 6.17 points to 12,141.79, the FBMT 100 Index gained 3.33 points to 11,801.70 while the FBM Emas Syariah Index fell 8.77 points to 12,550.91.
The FBM 70 rose 1.85 points to 14,100.13 and the FBM Ace was 15.30 points better at 5,353.40.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index increased 16.37 points to 8,097.56, Finance Index advanced 21.84 points to 15,421.91 but the Industrial Index was 3.48 points lower at 3,239.76.
Among heavyweights, Tenaga and Sime Darby were flat at RM13.72 and RM9.14, respectively, while Petronas Chemicals and IHH were one sen better at RM7.36 and RM5.91, respectively.
Among actively-traded stocks were Iskandar Waterfront City which soared 50 sen to RM2.78, Ekovest gained four sen to RM1.49 and Benalec rose five sen to 61.5 sen.
The physical price of gold as at 9.30am stood at RM166.67 per gramme, up RM1.18 from RM165.49 at 5pm last Friday. — Bernama