KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened higher today in line with global indices as positive momentum on global trade talks boosted the market sentiment.
At 9.05am, benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 5.95 points higher to 1,599.29 compared with Friday’s close of 1,593.34.
The key index opened 4.94 points higher at 1,598.28.
On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers by 253 to 60, while 194 counters unchanged, 1,453 untraded and 28 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 153.71 million shares worth RM64.28 million.
As at 9.20am, Dow Jones Industrial Average was 1.11% higher at 27,347.36, Singapore Straits Times rose 0.33% at 3,240.20, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.97% to 27,100.76 while South Korea’s Kospi inched 0.96% at 2,120.36.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd in its equity note today said, after mild consolidation on Friday, the key index is expected to resume its recovery over the near term, buoyed by the positive development in most global equity indices.
“As it is, sentiments are showing signs of improvement amid the positivity in the US-China trade negotiations that is watched closely as it remains one of the biggest determinate of the market’s direction, given its large scale implications to the global economy,“ it said.
Besides the US-China trade talks, Thailand as Aseans’s chair stated yesterday that members of the regional grouping are committed to concluding the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) by February 2020 to create the world’s largest trade bloc.
On the technical front, the note said that the resistance level would maintain at 1,600 points for now while the supports are at 1,590 and 1,580 respectively.
“The lower liners and broader market shares have remained relatively resilient and have maintained the upsides despite the bouts of profit-taking activities. With sentiments still on the mend, we see further near term gains among stocks in the FBM small-cap and technology indices,“ it said.
Among heavyweights, Digi, Dialog and Press Metal all added two sen to RM4.70, RM3.49 and RM4.74 respectively, IHH climbed four sen to RM5.66 and Kuala Lumpur Kepong rose eight sen to RM21.76.
Of the actives, Prestariang inched three sen to 54 sen, Sapura Energy climbed half a sen to 26.5 sen while Sumatec, Multisport and NETX all were flat at half-a-sen, 1.5 sen and two sen respectively.
The FBM Emas Index was 46.81 points up at 11,326.94, the FBMT 100 Index rose 45.60 points to 11,135.01, the FBM 70 rose 74.73 points to 14,014.65 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 62.28 points to 11,886.66.
The FBM Ace bagged 12.61 points to 4,992.04.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index climbed 4.20 points for 15,578.87 and the Plantation Index gained 31.06 points to 6,78.10, while the Industrial Products & Services Index added 0.33 point to 153.52.
The physical price of gold as at 9.30am stood at RM195.46 per gramme, down 44 sen from RM195.90 at 5.00pm yesterday. — Bernama
