KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia extended its gains yesterday to open higher today on continued bargain hunting in most index-linked counters led by Public Bank, dealers said.
At 9.03am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 4.46 points firmer at 1,700.80 versus Thursday’s close of 1,696.34.
The index opened 5.22 points better at 1,701.56.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 107 to 104, with 94 unchanged, 1,611 counters untraded and 69 others were suspended.
Volume stood at 75.58 million units valued at RM45.37 million.
A dealer said despite the lower overnight close on Wall Street, the local stock market continued its uptrend possibly aided by improved oil prices and in anticipation of a hopeful meeting between the US and Chinese leaders at the Group of Twenty (G20) summit meeting.
“The rebound in oil prices would be positive for oil and gas-based stocks today,“ said the dealer.
Meanwhile, Maybank IB Research said domestic focus remained on another set of corporate earnings to be released today with possible profit-taking expected ahead of the weekend.
“Technically, we expect the FBM KLCI to range between 1,685 and 1,710 today. Downside supports are 1,680 and 1,658,“ it said in a research note today.
Among heavyweights, Public Bank rose two sen to RM24.92. The stock showed steady performance this week, increasing about 0.32%.
Maybank eased one sen to RM9.44, Tenaga was flat at RM14.24 and CIMB fell two sen to RM5.83.
Petronas Chemicals increased two sen to RM9.27, PetGas improved 22 sen to RM19.02 and PetDag gained 44 sen to RM26.56.
Of actives, PWorth was flat at four sen, MYEG lost two sen to RM1.03 while Hubline rose half-a-sen to four sen.
Top gainers, Nestle bagged 90 sen to RM147.90 and F&N increased 48 sen to RM33.88.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index perked 39.00 points to 11,836.40, the FBM 70 was up 25.11 points at 13,756.53 and FBM Ace Index was 8.84 points higher at 4,812.11.
The FBM Emas Index climbed 34.05 points to 11,765.22 and the FBMT 100 Index recovered 35.83 points to 11,639.72.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index improved 21.76 points to 7,056.84, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.05 of-a-point weaker at 171.58 and the Financial Services Index perked 13.93 points to 17,481.11.
The physical price of gold as at 9.30am stood at RM159.35 per gramme, down 23 sen from RM159.58 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama
